Currents
by petthekat
Summary: A victim of the antics of a time-traveling Renet, April O'Neil finds herself stranded, without the turtles at her side. Instead, she must rely on allies she knows only from stories, in a land she's only ever heard of. Left with a cryptic message to "do what she needs to do," April soon realizes that her time in the past carries risks that extend far into the currents of the future.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hey guys! I honestly didn't expect to write more fic for a while, what with school and all. However, this idea came to me after watching Tale of Yokai – worthy of an Emmy, if I do say so myself – and now it won't leave me.

This fic is different from my others. While it is a TMNT fic, it contains **very little about the turtles.** They only appear in the first and last chapters. It does, however, contain April O'Neil, as well as many other familiar faces... Also, the first few chapters will be relatively tame, but this will eventually become M-rated. I'll warn you beforehand.

That's all I'm giving you. You'll just have to trust me.

xx

* * *

"King me!"

Raphael turned a sardonic stare to the game board, one hand balanced carelessly on his knee. "We're playing Life, doofus."

"Duh," Mikey rolled his eyes. "And I want my life to be one as a royalll king!" He tapped his chin before gesturing grandly. "King Michelangelo! Owner of that little car and its two blue pegs!"

"Why _did_ you choose two blue pegs, Mikey?" asked Leo curiously. "You know those are both for males, right?"

Mikey shrugged. "Two dudes can party together, Leo. It's the 21st century, catch up."

Giggling, April leaned over the playing board from her spot above them on the couch. "That's right, King Mikey."

"Don't encourage him," Raphael leaned against the couch. "You've all got like two seconds to make this game interesting or I'm bailing." However, before anyone could react to Raphael's threat, a bright square flashed above the left corner of the lair's living area, making even Donatello look up from where he was working at the kitchen counter. A flicker preceded a shriek, one that echoed distantly before coming in closer and closer.

Michelangelo's eyes lit up. "I know that scream!"

 _Thud._

"Whoa!" Donnie popped out of the kitchen, a pair of goggles still strapped firmly to his face. Leo and Raph jumped to their feet in unison, weapons drawn, but when they saw who had suddenly transported into their living room, they relaxed.

Reluctantly.

"Renettttttttttt!" Mikey was on her in an instant, snatching her up in a hug that brought her clear off the ground. From her seat on the couch, April watched with wide eyes, but the turtles gathered in front of her and she could only peer curiously over their shoulders as they each greeted the time-traveler with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

The strange woman giggled, patting Mikey on the head. "Hey there, my favorite turtle warriors!" When she was on her feet again, she straightened her peculiar helmet and twirled the staff in her opposite hand. It went slightly off-kilter and knocked her helmet sideways again, but she hurriedly fixed it and flashed them all a beaming smile.

"I'm practicing!" she proclaimed proudly, much to Mikey's delight. "And I thought I'd drop in, just to visit. I don't have much time, though." She paused, possibly for comic effect, even though she was met with total silence before she laughed at her own joke. "Nah, just kidding. I've got like, all the time." She waved her staff pointedly.

"Hardy har," Raphael rolled his eyes.

"What's all the racket?" Casey Jones emerged from the bathroom, pausing when he saw Renet, his dark eyes growing mischievous. "Well, helloooo.." A sharp jab from Mikey's finger to his shoulder shut him up. "Ow!"

"It's good to see you again," said Leo politely. "Welcome to our home."

"Thanks!" Renet said enthusiastically, though she eyed Casey curiously. "Who is this?"

Raphael punched Casey's shoulder to accompany Mikey's finger-jab bruise. "He's our pet human. Found him in a dumpster," he said, talking loudly over Casey's protests. "I originally named him Dinkle, but Leo thought he might never learn to answer to that -"

"So we call him Casey Jones, instead," Donnie cut in with a snicker.

"Oooh," Renet clapped her hands excitedly. "I read all about you, Casey!" She paused as Casey grinned smugly, nodding to the other turtles before she continued sympathetically, "Sorry about what happens to your whole – _face_ , thing, though."

"My... face?" croaked Casey, touching his jaw.

Renet's eyes widened. "Oh, oh! Yeah, that hasn't – uh, exactly happened yet – Just – Ha! Don't worry about it," she cleared her throat awkwardly before clapping her hands once more. "Anyway!"

"Oh, and we almost forgot," Michelangelo reached behind his brothers and drew out the redhead behind him, tucking an arm around her shoulders affectionately. "Renet, you've got to meet the first ever human in our lives!" With a proud smile in April's direction, he gently pushed her forward.

"Hi," April said, laughing at Mikey's antics. She turned to face the unusual young woman, relaxed and easy as she extended her hand. "My name is April O'Neil."

And yet for all April's ease, all the cheer she felt at a nice, normal evening with her turtle family, the reaction she got from Renet the Time-Traveler was anything but.

April's hand remained floating, unshaken and untouched.

Glancing at Mikey uncertainly, April lowered her hand when Renet simply stared her, all hints of laughter gone from her pretty features. Instead, they were twisted with confusion and more than a little alarm. "April?" she repeated finally, her head tilted. "As in like – the April? But, what -" She pointed, eyes ticking all around the room as if she couldn't remember where she was.

"Uh," April looked around as well. "Is everything okay?"

Renet jabbed a finger in her mouth and chewed on a fingernail, brows furrowed. "Like, you shouldn't be – but you SHOULD be – pretty sure I read, okay, maybe I'm like -"

"What are you _talking_ about?" April looked to Mikey, who shrugged. All the turtles were just as confused as April, and Renet was only growing more and more panicked. Then, without warning, she jumped out and grabbed April's wrist.

"Oh, man," Renet said to no one in particular. "I sure hope I'm right!"

The square of light opened up above them and Renet waved her staff, making all of the turtles leap in her and April's direction. "Whoa, Renet, wait -"

"Don't TAKE her!" shrieked Donatello.

" _Take me?"_ squealed April, as a strange vortex began to pull on the edges of her body. "What the -"

"Sorry, guys!" Renet called out. Then the flash of light engulfed them both and they were gone.

xx

* * *

 _Whoosh._

 _Fwish._

 _Thud._

Rarely had April landed so gracelessly – and on her face, too – but she did now, and the next moment she came to full awareness, it was with the uncomfortable realization that she was now outside.

And whereas before it had been late in the evening, it was now the middle of the day.

"This is _not_ grocking cold," said a familiar female voice to her side, and April rolled onto her back before spitting out a mouthful of grass. Sitting up, she spotted the time-traveling young woman just a few feet away, pacing and muttering to herself. Standing heatedly, April brushed off her clothes and marched over.

"Hey, Renet! Remember me?" she waved a hand frantically. "Yeah, you should. We just met five minutes ago and now we're like," She glanced around slowly, her eyes taking in what appeared to be a desolate, unpaved road on the edge of a great deal of forest.

"... in the middle of nowhere," April finished lamely.

Renet's eyes jumped up to hers. "Not _nowhere_. I mean, like. It's somewhere. I think this is it."

Growing increasingly impatient, April growled. " _What_ is it?"

"The place!" Renet piped up. "The place where you need to be." She tapped her chin, lips pursed. "At least, I think so..." At April's glare, she held up both hands. "I'm sure, I'm sure! Well, okay. Like – I think 93% sure, and that's pretty close to one hundred, right?"

"What are you talking about?" asked April desperately. "And where are the guys? Take me back to them!"

"I'm sorry, I can't!" said Renet, her eyes wide. "I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to bring you here, because – well, I can't tell you why, otherwise it might not happen right. Because, time-travel, ya know, it can get pretty sticky! Which is why they leave it up to us!" She pointed to herself proudly. "The _experts_."

April glared.

"Okay, so..." Renet edged away, hands still high. "I gotta jet, but you know, just... do what you're supposed to do."

"Wait, you're not – you're not leaving me, are you?" exclaimed April, eyes wide. "I don't even know where I am!"

"I'm sorry!" Renet cried out, the portal opening above her. "Really, I am. Like – I want to help, but I don't think I can, and I also don't know if I'm doing this right, but hey – you're gonna miss every goal you never take, right?"

A loud wordless shriek left April.

"Ooooookay, I can see you need some time to process this," said Renet, before pausing to snort at her own joke. "Heh," she giggled. "Time, get it?"

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Okay, bye!" And with that, Renet jumped up and vanished in a cube of light.

Leaving April O'Neil alone. On a dirt road. In the middle of God only knew where... in God only knew what year.

xx

* * *

" _Oh hey_ ," April mimicked under her breath in a nasally voice, her boots kicking up dirt on the unpaved path as she followed it mindlessly. "Meet Renet, she's super cool. Renet, this is April. Please take her and leave her defenseless on a dirt road while spouting a bunch of nonsense about time-travel and laughing," she turned her face skyward and screeched, " - _at your own jokes!"_

Her walk continued for almost two miles before she finally came to a road sign, and when she turned her weary gaze on it, it did little to assuage her irritation.

It was in Japanese. The road sign was in Japanese, and that meant she was in Japan.

What in the hell made Renet bring her to Japan? And from the looks of things, it wasn't TOO far in the past. She could see, very far in the distance, where a series of hills dropped and gave way to an opening that housed a fairly modern looking city. She couldn't read _kanji_ , so she didn't know what the sign indicated, but it was a decent sized place with tall buildings. She couldn't be back in feudal times or anything, which was something. Maybe she could find a phone.

Turning back to the street indecisively, April's irritated huff nearly disguised the sound of tires rolling down the loose gravel. However, the shriek of a car horn as someone blazed by her – nearly running her over in the process – was impossible to ignore.

"Ack!" April fell over, landing in a cloud of dirt with a pounding heart from her close call. "Holy hell," she wheezed, touching her heart. Oh, man. Here she was, wandering the streets without a dime to her name, and some Japanese farmer had nearly mowed her over with a ratty looking van. Great.

"Just another day in the life of April O'Neil," she grumbled.

In her misery, she drowned out the sounds of yet another vehicle approaching, but this one was much more subtle – and quiet – than the last.

" _Sumimasen,_ " came a male voice.

April jumped to attention, her hands hurriedly brushing away some dirt as she turned in her spot, only to see an old pickup truck stopped just a few feet down the road. After a moment, an elbow leaned out of the open window, a face accompanying it a moment later.

" _Daijobu desuka_?" asked a young Japanese male, his face partially obscured by dirt rolling off the tires of his truck. April coughed and swatted away some of the misty dirt, her boots shuffling forward uncertainly.

Grappling for the few Japanese phrases she knew, she tilted her head to get a better look at the driver.

" _Eigo o?"_ she tried uncertainly.

The dust cleared as April approached the window, and she found herself face to face with a young man very close to her own age, one with such handsome features that she became immediately aware of how dirty and distressed she must look. _Great, April. Awesome. Fantastic. You win at life._

She tried to brush down her unruly hair, a flush staining her cheeks even as the young man offered her a small smile. It was a subtle expression, one that read much more in his eyes than any of his other features.

"I speak English," he said in a clear, crisp accent that sent a wave of relief through April. She responded with a smile of her own.

"Oh, well..." she glanced around. "Actually, I was... I was dropped off here to, um." She paused. "I was coming to meet a friend and I think someone might have left me off in the wrong place. Pretty sure I'm lost."

The young man leaned back into the cab of his truck. "I would think so," he said, a faint hint of teasing in his tone. "You're quite a way from any village and I do not think you want to walk all the way to Osaka from here." He pointed at the city April had noticed in the distance. Turning to look back at the city, April witheld a resigned sigh.

"Yeah," she said softly. "That would be terrible."

"Who are you meeting?" he asked, and April's mind panicked. Finally, she grasped for the first name that popped into her head. Why, she would never know.

"A girl called Tang Shen," she said, waving a hand dismissively. "She's a friend of mine."

To her surprise, the young man raised both brows and said, "Really? She is from my town. I can take you there, if you'd like. I'm on my way back right now."

April stared, her jaw loose. He knew Tang Shen? Then that must mean... What year was she in? Did she drop right back into where the turtles had left? They'd told her all about what had happened... How they'd seen Master Splinter and the Shredder, baby Miwa – Karai. How they'd watched her die, and witnessed as the Shredder took Miwa away.

Damn Renet. Damn her all the way the 1600's, so she could be burned at the stake for being a witch.

Honestly, she had no plans to meet anyone, much less a woman she had never actually met, but it was either go with this young (attractive) man or stay where she was, so April reluctantly climbed into the truck cab and clasped her hands politely in her lap. The young man – or teenager, rather – started the vehicle down the dusty road, one he appeared to be very familiar with.

"So how do you, uh," April swallowed tightly. "How do you know Tang Shen?"

The young man turned a corner, his driving quick and assured. "She and I attended school together," he said, and April realized his voice had a very deep, low quality to it that didn't match his young, sharp face. "But I do not know her well. She is a few years older. My brother was in her year."

He glanced at her, his expression placid but his eyes curious. "Are you from her university?"

"... Yes," said April slowly, forcing a smile. "I'm an exchange student."

"From Ireland?" he asked, eyeing her briefly, pausing at her red hair. April couldn't help a small grin.

"No, from the United States," she said. "New York, specifically." It couldn't hurt to tell him that much. Maybe if she kept him talking, she'd get some insight to when exactly she was.

"Ah, no wonder you are friends with Tang Shen," he said, looking back to the road. "She always spoke of traveling when she was still in school."

"My name is April, by the way," she offered out of habit. "Thank you for picking me up."

"April," he repeated slowly as the truck turned onto a paved road and continued its trek, and April looked out of the window as the hills rolled into higher, steeper mountains. Now that she could see more of the landscape, the beauty was enough to drive her to distraction. "That is certainly far from a Japanese name," he mused, and when she looked back to him, she saw him quirk his lips in a smirk.

Flushing, April bit her lip and looked back to the window determinedly. Fortunately, it was not long before they pulled into a small town, one that sat on the outskirts of yet more forest. The streets were paved but narrow, angled roofs lining the edges and curling up twisted paths set against mountains long ago. It was a modern looking town – nothing particularly ancient about it – but the architecture was definitely Japanese, and most of the signs were unreadable with her limited knowledge. More of the town seemed to seep into the forest, possibly pushing back further where she couldn't see, but her rescuer didn't turn that way.

Instead, he navigated the slender streets until he came to a series of homes in a well-kept area. Circling around, he slowed and peered thoughtfully at the houses. "I believe this is hers," he said, stopping the truck. Sucking in a deep breath, April turned to face him with a fully-prepared, completely inauthentic smile that was meant to disguise her mounting anxiety, but instead threatened to dissolve into hysteria.

"Thank you, really. I appreciate your kindness," she told him sincerely, a vain part of her wishing desperately that she didn't look like something the cat had dragged in. However, he never gave her any sort of condescending looks, instead inclining his head politely in her direction.

April turned to her door to get out. "Oh," she said, as she fiddled with the handle. "I almost forgot – What's your name?" The old door opened at last with a groan.

"It was no problem," he told her kindly, and as April's head lifted to peer at him in the glass of her window, his face reflected clearly, he said, "My name is Hamato Saki."

And with that, she fell clear out of the door.

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, looking more than a little bewildered as April brushed him off with a wild, nearly manic smile.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get Tang Shen to look at – all the bruises," she said, waving him away. He got back into his truck, which he'd abandoned to help her off the ground, but April practically flew away from him as soon as she was able and now he was nearly ready to leave. "Its cool, really."

"Well," he said slowly, eyebrow raised. "It was nice to meet you." _Weirdo,_ April filled in mentally. She gave him one last awkward wave before he finally, finally drove way, his truck disappearing around the corner of several homes before she dropped her hand and barely staved off a collapse.

Hamato Saki, she thought as she turned back to face the house he'd left her at. The Shredder. She'd taken a casual lift from The Shredder, one who still called himself Hamato. How old had he been when he'd discovered his true heritage? April wasn't sure. He'd re-formed the Foot Clan in his twenties, though, so he couldn't have been that old when he'd found out the truth.

And if THAT was the Shredder, than that meant this Tang Shen really was...

"Well, here goes nothing," she said, raising a fist and knocking on the door. After a few moments of silence, the door opened, and April was once again floored for what felt like the zillionth time that day.

Wow, this girl looked so much like Karai. Or, at least, what Karai would look like without crazy make-up and hair. She was very pretty, in a much more natural way than most pretty girls actually were, in April's opinion.

"Hello," said the young woman in English, seemingly sensing April's distress. "Can I help you?"

Her kind, genuine tones rattled April even further, because she even sounded quite a lot like Karai. But then also, April was getting a little desperate for help, and one bit of generosity might be enough to break her or make her. Pushing back her distress, she sucked in a deep breath and said as steadily as she could, "Are you Tang Shen?"

"I am," she said with a smile. She was young, too. This girl was pre-Miwa, April supposed. Young Shredder had said she was at the university, but she couldn't have been older than nineteen or so.

"Hi," April said, her tone wavering a little. "My name is April and I'm... I'm an exchange student at the university. I was... I'm so sorry to bother you at home," her voice broke, and even though she had already planned to play on this girl's sympathy, her misery was genuine and she couldn't really help how pathetic she sounded. "But I really need help."

To her surprise, Tang Shen immediately stepped back and beckoned her inside. "Please, come in." When April stepped into the home, the young woman closed the door and gestured to her kitchen. "I was just about to make myself some food. Would you like something? Or some water? I also have juices."

Some pieces of the panic melted away. "Something to drink would be wonderful, thank you." She took a seat on a stool Tang Shen directed her to and after a few minutes, they were sitting together at a small bar. The home was compact, but neat and well-made, with appliances that looked dated to April's eyes, but also appeared shiny and new.

"Are you hurt?" asked Tang Shen after nibbling at a sandwich. April glanced at some of the scrapes on her arm, one of the many souvenirs from her multiple falls in the last few hours. Some ninja she was.

"It's fine," April managed a real smile. "Just had a rough day, is all." When Tang Shen seemed content to let her drink her juice in silence, she gathered her thoughts and prayed for just a tiny bit of luck. For once. "I, um... I was at the university and I ran into some trouble. Some legal issues," she said, sighing softly. "Now I can't continue going to school, but I can't return home to the United States, either."

"Oh, no," Shen frowned, her expression genuinely sympathetic. "That's terrible."

"I know," April turned her juice bottle in her hands. "I asked around campus, and some people mentioned you..." _Please let that make sense._

"Oh," Shen said with understanding. "Because I have worked with exchange students all my semesters in the university."

"Right!" April piped up. "That's what they said – Yes, they told me you knew a lot and... well, I don't - exactly know what you can do for me. Honestly, I just needed to get out of town and – well, this was the only place I could think to go." She paused, despair sinking her heart. Because as fabricated as her story was, it was partly true. She didn't know what to do or who might help her. She was complete lost. And alone.

Damn Renet. Salem Witch Trials were too good for her.

"Well, I am glad the other students thought of me," said Shen firmly, setting her sandwich aside. "I know how difficult it can be for students overseas. Some of those things – they are so complicated! So much red tape, so much nonsense." A real smile touched April's lips. She liked Shen's facial expressions, which scrunched often, and her soft accent. Like – _eeeuugh –_ Shredder, she spoke English very well.

"You are welcome to stay here with me while it is sorted out," said Shen suddenly, making April balk.

"What, really?" April blinked, and Shen nodded, her sandwich back in her hands once more. "You would do that? For someone you don't even know?"

Shen swallowed her bite, unperturbed.

"I live alone," she pointed out, looking around the small, organized space before she leaned close and whispered. "If you are a danger to me, I think I can take you." A quick grin flitted across her features, and she and April laughed together. It instantly occurred to April that Master Splinter had been wise to fall in love with such a person. She was likable in such a rare and instantaneous way. And with all that April knew about her, it was hard not to feel bonded with her already.

"Thank you," murmured April sincerely. "I'm... really trying to get home. Hopefully, I won't have to inconvenience you long."

"Do not worry," she responded with a shrug. "I had thought about getting a cat, but since you are here, now I will not have to." They giggled again, and when they were finished with their drinks, April helped her clean up, just to show her she was a little more useful than a cat.

xx

* * *

When she found a calendar, it revealed that the month was September.

The year was 1991.

xx

* * *

Author's Note: Stay tuned, I update quickly!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thanks for the interest, guys! This will be a wild ride. Get hype.

* * *

April kept her eyes squeezed shut, even as the dawn threatened to pry them open.

But maybe, just _maybe_ if she concentrated very hard, she would wake up in her own bed in the apartment she shared with her dad, safe in New York City and – oh, yeah – in the present.

After ten minutes of silent effort, she gave up and opened her eyes. Instead of finding her comfy bed, or even the couch in the turtles' lair, she instead had to wrestle her way out of a cocoon of blankets Tang Shen had made for her on the floor. After finding her way to the bathroom and re-settling on her nest of fabric, April sat with her legs folded, her posture slumped.

It was early morning, and Shen was still asleep in her small bedroom at the back of the house. She had classes that day, she had told April, but there was plenty of food around the house if April got hungry while she was gone. It was a nice gesture, one that April appreciated heartily, but there was something damning about it. Like even Shen, who knew so little about her, understood that April was completely reliant on someone she barely knew. She couldn't even feed herself out of this house.

What the hell was she going to do?

Falling back on her blankets, April turned her vision to the ceiling above, where a slowly revolving ceiling fan numbed her mind into a dreamy state. She was in the year 1991, that much she had learned. Which meant she wasn't born yet. In fact, her dad was probably slumped over someone's thrift-store couch right now, unwilling to rise and face a frat-party hangover. April almost giggled at the thought.

Then, something else stilled her.

Her mother. Her mother was alive and uncaptured in this year... probably attending college classes, just like Tang Shen. The thought made April's heart ache, and her misery deepened. What if she just ditched Japan? What if she left behind whatever vague and probably impossible task Renet expected her to do and simply fled to the United States?

Found her parents, talked to her mother for the first time since she was a child? What would happen? How would all of this affect the future?

Tears pushed at the corners of her eyes, but April stubbornly warded them off.

She needed the turtles. She needed her dad. She needed Master Splinter's guidance.

At that thought, she shot up in her bed, her eyes wide. _Master Splinter._ He could probably help her! If Tang Shen and the Shredder were here, that meant he HAD to be nearby. Filled with hope, April fell back against her blankets again and forced herself to get some more sleep. She wouldn't be able to find Splinter without Shen's help, and Shen had classes until the afternoon. So she would have to wait.

For now.

* * *

"This is a good idea," Shen said confidently, her arm looped with April. "You need to learn the layout of our town."

April shared a genuine smile with her friend. If she could be half as friendly and easy-going as Shen, she would be in a much better position in life. Unfortunately, her temper and general impatience with all things stupid often kept her from being so amiable.

"Well, I figured it would be useful," she said with a nod. They turned a corner on the stone street and ambled their way past some older buildings, many of which had people sitting around them, talking and making purchases. "I haven't gotten to see very much of Japan yet. I still have a lot to learn, you know?"

"Do you know any Japanese?" asked Shen, pausing at a shop window. The town wasn't very large, and many of the buildings were only single story, but it had a nice shopping area with many businesses and well-kept fronts. It reminded April of the nice side of Chinatown back in New York.

"A little," April admitted. "Not nearly as much as I should." She inspected the outfit in the window, then glanced over at Shen. As far as she could tell, Shen wore Western clothing all the time. Many of the people in these areas did, but some opted for more traditional Japanese clothing.

She tried to remember what the Shredder had been wearing, but she couldn't. It had definitely been sleeveless. And yeah, maybe that had been the issue with her remembering anything else. Her eyes had never made it past his biceps.

Honestly, April needed more clothes, because Shen was a good bit smaller in the chest than her and she doubted they could share. But even she'd had her wallet, it was only American money and an emergency credit card that was from twenty years in the future. Not very useful. As if reading her thoughts, Shen nodded at the window.

"Do you have any suitcases you can pick up? Any more clothes?"

"Uh," April flushed. "Not really. They kinda got … stolen."

Shen frowned. "I'm sorry. Sometimes, people take advantage of foreigners. For some reason, they think it is okay to steal from them, even if they would not steal from other Japanese. It is a ridiculous idea." Smiling one more, she patted April's arm. "We will find something to work for you. Do not worry."

They came to a farmer's market, where several stands boasted fresh fruit and vegetables. As Shen wandered, picking up various edibles and inspecting them thoughtfully, April took the opportunity to complete her mission. She whirled in her spot, eyes scanning the growing crowds of people in the market area. For a small town, it certainly seemed to have a lot of people in it. More houses must be in the area than what she could see, she decided.

Now, how on earth to find Master Splinter in all of this craziness?

Sighing, April folded her arms over her chest and stood on her tiptoes, determination coursing through her veins. All she had to do was find Splinter, and even if she couldn't explain the whole time-travel thing to him, surely he would be able to help her in SOME way. He was Master Splinter! He knew everything. Hopping once to see over the crowd, April dropped back down only to have her vision filled with the very close face of a tall, broad-shouldered teenager with a cocky smirk.

"Looking for someone?" he asked in English, his tone playful.

April blinked, an irritated huff escaping her. He was deliberately standing in her way.

"Yes, actually," she said, trying to edge around him. Stupid boy. However, instead of getting out of her way, the young man jumped in front of her, effectively blocking her view. His grin grew, particularly when April narrowed her blue eyes at him. When she side-stepped again, he matched her movement effortlessly. April stomped her foot.

"Can I help you?" she asked, putting both fists on her hips.

The unfamiliar teen chuckled. "Perhaps," he said easily, and for the first time, April realized he was wearing some kind of uniform. Not a school uniform, but something else. "Would your search have anything to do with Tang Shen?" he asked, raising a thick brow.

"Why do you ask?" April inquired suspiciously.

"Hm," he shrugged, reaching over to an old man's stand and snatching up a fruit, which he paid for with the flip of a coin. "I saw you talking to her earlier. Someone saw you leaving her house this morning. Are you a friend?"

"And what do you care?" April huffed. This stupid smug guy was slowing her down. Then again, maybe this was why she was never good at investigating things with the turtles. As she'd mentally recounted earlier, she was not always as friendly as she could be. Most of her conversations were an exercise in restraint.

Instead of growing agitated with her brusque behavior, however, the young man seemed quite amused. He dropped the fruit into a bag dangling at his bare wrist and laughed. "I just like to know what's going on around here," he lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "And to make sure Tang Shen is well taken care of."

"Despite the fact," Tang Shen cut in, appearing at April's side. "That Tang Shen is perfectly capable of taking care of herself." She lifted both brows at the young man, who's expression immediately lit up at the sight of her.

"Of course you are!" he declared, delighted. "That is why you are so powerful and compelling."

"Such a flatterer," Shen said, her tone light and not at all swayed by the compliment. In fact, the look she gave the young man was as close to annoyed as April had seen on her. Still, when the young man made an exaggerated bow in Tang Shen's direction, his lips quirked in an endearing smile, Shen's own expression threatened to break into a giggle, try as she might to hide it.

April relaxed a little, a small grin of her own taking root. After Shen had schooled back her expression, obviously determined not to give any leeway to the young man, she turned to April.

"This troublemaker," she gestured at the young man, "is someone I went to school with." Stepping forward, he offered a more earnest bow to April.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," he said politely, though humor still danced in his eyes. "I am Hamato Yoshi."

April blinked, her eyes wide.

 _Are you freaking kidding me?_

Screaming on the inside, she returned his bow and conjured a breathless smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm April."

Hamato Yoshi. This silly flirt was Master Splinter, in the flesh, at the age of 19. The guy who had resorted to dancing in her way just to annoy her, that was the man she'd been seeking out to help her figure out what in the hell she was supposed to be doing during a time-travel jump into a completely different country.

 _I'm done. I'm done with today._

"Ah, April!" Yoshi said, looking thoughtful. "My brother gave you a ride into town." His brother, April's heart pounded at the thought. Shredder, who didn't seem to know he was of the Foot clan. Who had no idea that he had been born under the name Oroku Saki. Was her purpose here something to do with the Foot clan? Was she supposed to stop them? She hoped not. That seemed like a daunting task.

"Yes," April said, as steadily as she could manage. "He was very … nice."

Now that April thought about it, the Shredder had been wearing the same uniform Yoshi now wore, scarlet in color and bearing the Hamato crest. It was indicative of their ninja clan, and it had a much more traditional style than Shen's button-up shirt and jeans. The two looked very juxtaposed, standing in front of one another, particularly when Shen was doing her best to ignore him and Yoshi was patiently but adamantly waiting to be noticed.

"Anyway," April said pointedly, ready to leave. What a waste her hopes had been. It wasn't Yoshi's fault, but there was no way he could help her. Shen grabbed her fruits and veggies.

"Yes, we should get -"

Silence fell over the market, the chatter of the vendors and their customers coming to a strange, still quiet. April paused, a chill settling over her as she, Shen and Yoshi looked up in tandem to see a group of four or five men pass through the area, their expressions calm and smug.

They wore traditional clothing, unmarked and dark in color. Each looked, like Yoshi and the Shredder, well-toned and almost brutish. None appeared to be very old, perhaps thirty at the most, but all carried themselves in a very dominant manner, particularly one man in his twenties who stood at the front. A distinctive scar pierced his right cheek. If any of the dark-clothed men noticed the townspeople's reaction to them, they made no indication of it, instead moving through the crowds and vanishing between some houses.

When they were gone, conversation and movement slowly resumed once more.

April turned back to find Hamato Yoshi's playful expression gone, replaced with a scowl.

"What are they _doing_ here?" asked Shen to Yoshi, her lips pursed in a frown. She clutched her bag to her chest and Yoshi responded with a grimace.

"Visiting sick family, so they say," he said flatly. "I keep telling Father that they shouldn't be allowed at all, but he insists that we cannot keep them out. They still have blood here."

"Who was that?" asked April finally, and the other two looked at her as if suddenly remembering her presence. Yoshi snorted, his eyes still narrowed. When he spoke, his voice was a great deal more like she remembered from back home.

"Relics of a past best forgotten."

* * *

"The Foot Clan," explained Shen later that evening as they sat on the floor and ate from their own bowls of rice and veggies. "Made of different families, but led by the Oroku clan."

April's chopsticks paused half-way to her mouth, and some of it fell into her lap. Hurriedly brushing it away, April swallowed a bite of food before asking as casually as she could, "What happened to them?" She put her bowl aside. "Yoshi said they were a relic best forgotten. What does that mean?"

"Years ago," Shen said, straightening in her spot. "The Hamato Clan and the Foot Clan were in constant dispute. Honestly, they are both relics of the past, ninja clans the likes of which haven't existed in abundance for decades." Sighing, she leaned back on her hands. "But these two clans persisted, and as such, they were always at war. Outright attacks were seldom, but they acted like gangs, fighting over everything from land to taxes, even arranged marriages. One from this clan could not marry to this clan, and so on. It was archaic."

"I take it that you don't really approve?" guessed April wryly.

Shen shrugged, her face scrunched. "I understand the idea behind it, I do. And I think ninja clans had their place, many years ago." She paused, before going on. "However, I think that time is long passed. Family and honor are things to hold on to, certainly. But to create such bickering when the only true difference between your beliefs is nothing but a name? That is wasteful." Shen sucked on the end of one of her chopsticks. "The world is violent and cruel enough already. To breed such violence only leads to trouble. And it did."

The two rose to do their dishes together in the sink.

"About fifteen or twenty years ago, something happened that sparked an attack in the streets here in town. I do not know who attacked who, but from that moment on, the two clans could not so much as see each other without resorting to battle. Homes were destroyed. People were killed. It was an awful time, and not even the local authorities were willing to do anything, because the Oroku clan would always pay them to look the other way." Shen dried her hands on a towel.

"Then, one night, the two clans met in full-force on the Oroku estate, which is further up the mountain than the town proper. I was just a baby, so I do not remember, but my mother once told me that the entire sky turned orange with the light of flames. The whole estate was burned to the ground, most of the Foot Clan was killed, and any who remained living were forced to flee."

April slowly took a seat on one of Shen's barstools, transfixed.

"The Foot Clan was never around when I was young," she went on, taking a seat across from April. "They were defeated and powerless, and none who had been allied with them dared show their faces in our town."

April leaned on her elbows, her eyes focused as she drank in the information. She'd never heard the story told this way before.

"And now, those guys...?"

"They would have been children when the Foot Clan fought last," Shen said with a nod. "They can claim innocence in any involvement. But people like Hamato Yoshi believe they are trying to make their way back into town to exact revenge on the Hamato clan."

"Do you think that's true?" asked April.

Shen shrugged. "They are thugs, that much is certain. They cause trouble and threaten people often, but I do not know anything else about them. It is hard to say what they want." With an eyeroll, she put her chin in her hands. "I think Hamato Yoshi just wants a fight because it is all he knows how to do."

After tucking away this information about the Foot Clan, April nearly laughed at Shen's words. Master Splinter, gunning for a fight? No way.

Then again, this wasn't Master Splinter. This was Hamato Yoshi, a very young man who had, as Shen pointed out, been trained for combat for a very long time. Even the turtles back home sometimes got antsy without something physical to do. Maybe the idea wasn't so ridiculous.

Still, it was a bit funny that Shen seemed so annoyed with him, particularly since he seemed to make his affection for her no secret at all. The idea that Master Splinter had had to _earn_ Tang Shen's love had never really occurred to her. She always figured it had been an at first sight type of thing. Apparently, she had been mistaken.

Or maybe not, she thought with a wily grin.

"I don't know," she said slowly. "Yoshi doesn't seem that bad."

Shen stuck out her tongue and scrunched her nose. "He is silly and thinks he knows everything, particularly when it comes to women." Hopping off her stool, Shen pointed at April. "That boy thinks he is so charming!"

" _Mmhm,_ " April bit her lip to hide her smirk. "You seemed pretty charmed by him."

"I was not!" Shen protested, even as she gave herself away with a little grin. She cleared her throat and quickly tucked away the smile. "Yoshi is nice, but he is also a complete mess. Besides, his only love is for ninjutsu." Falling heavily on her couch, Shen puffed a piece of hair out of her face, her cute expression of annoyance coming back in full-force. April joined her on the couch and laughed.

"I'm pretty sure he had other things on his mind than ninjutsu this afternoon," she said slyly. "Just judging by the way he was looking at you." Shen's cheeks flushed pink.

"Well, that is too bad for him," she said loftily. "Because I will not be moved by his ways."

April smiled, thinking about Master Splinter as she knew him, and the loving way he spoke of Tang Shen. Oh, if only her friend knew. "Maybe he'll mature one day," she offered gently. Shen's expression softened, but she still shook her head.

"It does not matter," she leaned an arm against the back of the couch and pressed her cheek into it. "A man like Hamato Yoshi would want a wife he can take care of. But I am not a doll, to be dressed up and posed by someone else." Her eyes drifted low, and April curled up next to her, enjoying the warmth and familiarity between them.

"I want more than that," Shen continued softly, her eyes growing dreamy. "I want to learn things and then do them myself. I want to see the world, not from a book or television screen, but from a place where I can run into it as if I'm escaping into a story."

Her eyes lifted to April's. "So many people lose their dreams, and in doing so, they lose themselves. I do not want to be that person, April. I want to take my dreams and let them build me, not store them away where they will wilt and die." With that, she stopped and frowned.

"Does that sound selfish?"

The patterned fabric of the couch pressed into April's cheek, a little more damp than it had been a moment before. Fighting off a sniffle, April shook her head without lifting it.

"No," she murmured. "That doesn't sound selfish at all."

* * *

That night, April lay on her nest of blankets and pondered.

Why had Renet sent her here? Surely it had something to do with Shen and Yoshi. Was she supposed to get them together? Wasn't that something that had happened naturally? The turtles had traveled to a time at least four or five years ahead of this one. Did that make a difference?

Surely she wasn't supposed to wait for them to return? Wouldn't they have known if she had?

This was all so confusing, and April ached to be back home. This was not a responsibility she wanted, whatever said responsibility was. Sighing deeply, April rolled onto her side. The sooner she figured this out, the sooner Renet would come back to take her home.

In theory.

* * *

Author's Note: I tried looking up the history of the Foot/Hamato clans and true to comic book nature, there are like 10000000000 different versions. Seriously.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I am so excited for this story. Seriously.

Thank you for the support!

* * *

April turned on her side.

Sunrise had yet to make its appearance, but that didn't stop the troubled redhead from lying awake, blue eyes staring blankly at the wall as she desperately chased sleep. After half an hour of diligent effort, she fell on to her back once more and let her thoughts wander.

Maybe the key to this whole thing was the turtles' wild venture into the past, when they'd saved Master Splinter from the fire. Moving an arm up behind her head, April recalled how she had sought each of them out after their return, asking the same question and getting startlingly different answers.

* * *

" _What was it like?"_

Her simple query made Leonardo pause, his hands flexing around the hilt of his katana. They'd been working on katas together, and the dojo was otherwise empty. They hadn't spoke yet of the turtles' journey to the past, but he didn't have to ask what she meant.

" _It was scary,"_ he had answered with a thoughtful frown, his eyes low.

" _Scary?"_ April had asked. _"How so?"_

Leonardo's response was to frown deeper and lower his katana until the tip dropped to the faded rug below. April clearly remembered the torrent of expressions that crossed his features before he'd looked to her and said, _"Because seeing Master Splinter go through all of that – losing his home, his family... Seeing how much pain he was in..."_

The leader in blue sighed deeply then.

" _It made me feel like I needed to tell him all the wise things he's told us."_

The katana came to rest gently against the wall, and Leonardo's fingers lingered for a moment before slipping away as he straightened. _"And that's scary,"_ he had told April resolutely. _"To know that the only person in your life who always has the answers is the one who needs help."  
_

* * *

" _It was bad,"_ Raphael had responded shortly.

He was trying to busy himself with something in the Shellraiser, something that probably could have waited, but all the turtles had been a bit off since returning from their time-traveling journey.

" _What do you mean?"_

But Raphael hadn't answered, instead opting to move around the Shellraiser pointedly, out of view. April, never one to give up, had followed him, but when he wouldn't speak any further, she opted for one more question.

" _What happened to Tang Shen?"_

And this time, Raphael did answer, his words low and quiet.

" _She died."_

* * *

" _What was it like?"_ Donnie had repeated, in his typical manner, red eyes thoughtful before swiftly turning morose. He turned a beaker between his two green fingers.

" _It was terrible,"_ he had answered, his body drooping. _"I kept going through all of these scenarios in my head. What could we have done? How could we help?"_ It was then that he'd leaned back in his chair, eyes turned to the ceiling and said to April:

" _But the truth is, I think I've come to understand it now. Everything we tried to do, every move we made – it was already decided. We were a part of history as we knew it, not as we didn't know it. All of our decisions, our words, our movements. They'd already happened."_

April had fallen silent then, trying to wrap her mind around it all even as Donnie leaned forward and hunched over his desk once more.

" _We thought we were controlling the flow of time – the current. But in the end, we were just a ripple. And the current kept going."_

* * *

" _It was sad,"_ Michelangelo managed to sound forlorn even as he spun slow, lazy circles on one of Donnie's rolling desk chairs. And honestly, April had not expected much more of Mikey, as he tended to be mostly controlled by sympathy in situations like these, with very little thought towards anything but improving the moods of others.

But then he'd gone on.

" _But you know what was almost as bad as watching Tang Shen die?"_

April had stopped then, her full attention on the young turtle.

" _Have you ever like,"_ he'd continued, eyes on the ceiling as he revolved slowly. _"Looked at Mr. O'Neil and seen him like maybe other people see him?"_

April remembered her confusion. That had not been what she'd thought Mikey would say.

" _What do you mean?"_

Mikey continued his languid spin. _"Like, instead of seeing him and immediately thinking – 'Dad' – have you ever wondered what other people might notice? How they might, like, think of how he dresses or acts or treats people? Have you ever thought about, if maybe you just knew him from the office or something, what kind of person you'd see him as?"_

The chair had slowly stopped then, leaving Mikey face to face with April.

" _Have you ever looked at him and realized that he's probably got faults that go way beyond what you'd ever notice, if you were only to see him as your dad?"_

She'd never done that, and she told him so, but the thought made her head spin and she'd considered at that very moment, for the first time in her life, what Kirby O'Neil was like as a person and not just as her dad. And Mikey must have seen her mulling this over, because he'd shrugged then, an uneasy smile on his face.

" _When we went back, I saw Master Splinter that way for the first time."_

" _Was he... bad?"_

" _No,"_ and Mikey had said this slowly but firmly. _"But he was definitely human."_

* * *

Sunlight filtered in through the living room window and yet April remained, still and trapped in thought. Thinking of the turtles made tears well at her eyes, and she squeezed them shut. After a few minutes, she tentatively tugged at the edges of her mental awareness, her heart heavy.

Her time with the turtles and Casey at the farmhouse had heightened her awareness of them a great deal, and whereas before she could hardly use her strange mental powers with any conscious effort, she could now find the edges of it with ease. It was this ease that allowed her to pull it over her mind like a blanket, giving her the strength to search out, in desperate hope, for any sensations of the turtles.

At home, she could sense her friends anywhere in New York City. The "feelings" she'd started out with had sharpened, cultivated both by her own effort and Master Splinter's meditations, and now she knew each of their distinct mental identities. Master Splinter called them _auras,_ but April had always privately referred to them as _energies_ instead.

Now, as she lay alone on the floor cocooned in blankets, she fought and pushed to gain even a hint of their nearness. But there was none to be found. They didn't exist yet, and no amount of hoping would change that.

* * *

On the days Tang Shen went to class, April was essentially left to her own devices. For the first week, this meant wandering around town when she wasn't at Shen's home, where she sometimes tried to wath television, but was thwarted by the combination of Japanese dialogue and dated early 90's programming. Sometimes, she wandered in and out of shops, but it sometimes only served to get her a disagreeable look from the retail person, who did not seem to like her absent meandering without the intention to buy something.

Then, one day as she boredly made her way down one of the market streets, she spotted a harassed looking woman shaking out bed sheets. Turning her eyes to the sign and quickly deciding she absolutely could not read it, April still managed to gather that the woman worked at a laundromat type business.

Unfortunately for the old woman, she seemed to be overloaded with things to do, as she was the only person working a register just inside the glass door, while also trying to gather sheets from outdoors and operate the press on the inside. A line of six or seven customers waited impatiently for her services, and even April could pick up on the various _Sumimasens_ and _Gomens_ as the older woman rushed through her duties. Spotting the laundry still drying in the wind, April waved lightly to the woman and then, gesturing pointedly, she quickly filled the basket outside with the laundry and brought it inside, lifting the heavy container to the shelf.

The woman looked at her, astonished, but April simply smiled and shrugged before going to leave the laundry service. She'd only wanted to help, after all.

But in just a few minutes time, the woman had chased her down the street, and after a somewhat confusing exchange that needed help from a passerby who spoke much better English than the old woman, April gathered that she was being offered a job.

* * *

Honestly, part of the reason old Iida-san offered her a job that day was because she could pay April in cash, at the end of every week, and without having to even give her enough to really live on, because April's wages were probably half of what a real employee made, but no two business partners had ever been more satisfied with their arrangement.

And so they carried on.

* * *

"Please take it," implored April, holding out the _yen_ to her friend, but Tang Shen would have none of it.

"Use it to buy some clothes and bathroom things," she told her. "I do not need it." April made a face at the other girl and pushed the money back into the pocket of her increasingly ratty blue jeans.

"Shen, you let me live in your house and eat your food. You should let me give you _something_!"

At this, Shen leaned on the counter and smiled, her chin propped up in her hands. "But you do give me things," she told her earnestly, before her tone softened. "April, my grandmother died a year ago, and I have been alone in this house since. To have you here is … so much better." Shen lifted her head and her smile returned full-force. "And because you are here, I know I can accomplish new things. Things I have not been able to do before."

And then she leaned forward once more, her eyes wide and her grin growing before she whispered, "Like watch scary movies."

They both burst into laughter, and April finally accepted that she could spend her meager earnings on herself. The next day, Shen joined April as she went to and from a few shops, mostly thrift stores and consignment shops, to put together enough clothes for a few outfits.

It was a small thing, but to have her own clothes again – anything to call hers, really – lifted April's spirits. And so even though working at a busy laundry service shop was not her ideal job by any means – and Iida-san yelled constantly, in gargled old-lady Japanese – it was with a renewed sense of vigor that she faced the following week.

And the next.

Three weeks. And still Renet had not returned.

* * *

" _Ja-ne!_ " April called before stepping out of the shop, and Iida-san called something unintelligible before the door shut behind her. Shifting her new (old) perfectly cute yellow cardigan around her, April made her way down the now familiar street, her eyes shifted upward to face the grey sky. It was late in the afternoon, and autumn was starting to settle over the town in the form of late afternoon storms. Fortunately, it hadn't given way to rain just yet, so April took her time in getting back to Shen's house.

The town in which they all lived was an interesting one, a mix of the ancient and modern in terms of architecture and set up. It had paved roads that were excessively narrow in some places, winding up between rows of curving houses that gradually climbed the slope of a forest-covered mountain. Many of the streets were marked with stone pillars, and similar looking stone fences surrounded some areas that April dared not enter.

Arches, distinctive in their Japanese style, loomed over the streets that left the town, marking where paths journeyed further into the wooded area beyond the city proper. Many of the homes April saw were well-maintained, but those that went further down the mountain – and thus closer to the bustling, crowded city of Osaka below – were less cared for, with dismal, ruddy-colored siding and sheets over many of their windows. Here, few cars were seen, replaced instead with bicycles or scooters much more suitable for the constricting streets.

April hardly had a reason to travel that way, but sometimes she did so anyway, because it was the only place in town where one could look up back at the mountain and see, through the outcrop of trees and over the top of a hill, where the Hamato monastery sat, proud and austere.

Above the town, isolated in its vastness and grandeur. It was a very, very old home, Shen had told her, and it was where not only the Hamato family lived, but all of their close and distant relatives, their allies who brought children as young as five to begin training. It was a world unto its own, Shen explained, and April had stared in wonder and awe until her friend had pulled her away and they'd moved on.

Now, at the end of her long day, April took the time to stop and gaze at the distant structure, just one of many hidden in the forest that cloaked the Hamato land.

Satisfied with her look, she turned to head back in the direction of Shen's home. However, her awareness tugged at her attention, and she turned just in time to see a truck turn off the main road and into the forested area. She did not see the driver, but the four men in the back, all grave and motionless, were familiar enough.

 _The Foot Clan,_ she thought, her heart jumping in her chest. Those men she'd seen in the market place with Yoshi and Shen. The truck disappeared into the woods on an unmarked road, but after a few seconds of debate, April decided she couldn't very well just let this go uninvestigated. She was April O'Neil, after all. She was not to be left behind.

So she followed.

* * *

She couldn't very well keep up with the truck, but it wasn't hard to tell what direction it went. There was only one drivable path in this section of forest, and so she continued into the increasingly crowded groves, until the sounds of the town faded away behind her and the shadows grew very dark, with looming branches overhead blocking out what little light was left in the late day.

Suddenly, she spotted something up ahead. It was the truck, empty of its passengers.

Jogging forward, she circled the truck curiously, looking for any hints of what might have been going on. It wasn't until she stood at its headlights one more that her heightened awareness kicked up once more, and she knew without turning that someone stood behind her.

With a sharp intake of breath, April turned swiftly with one hand lifted, arm strong and fierce.

But he was ready, and a large hand snatched her wrist before it made contact. Within seconds, April's arm was twisted violently and pushed behind her back, and the Foot Clan man holding her was unyielding in his aggressive shove against her torso. The hood of the truck smarted painfully against her back, but April surpressed a wince, determined not to show the slightest bit of fear as she looked the man in the face.

"Let go of me," she snarled, and the laughter of the other gathered men – five in addition to the one holding her – made her heart jump in a fear she'd dare not show. The man holding her smirked, apparently unconcerned, and April realized she remembered him as the one walking ahead of the others in the marketplace. He was young, but he was definitely their leader.

"You are a brave girl," he said thickly in English, his accent much rougher and less practiced than Shen or Yoshi's. "But you are stupid. You should not follow."

"This isn't your land," April snapped, despite knowing that – as usual – she probably should just stay quiet. "Pretty sure this is all the Hamato's, isn't it?"

That had certainly been the wrong thing to say, because the man's amused sneer quickly transformed into a growl. He yanked her away from the truck, jolting her arm and tugging her close to him so that April had to turn her face away.

" _Baka gaijen,_ " he hissed, and to April's horror, a small, sharp blade appeared in his hand.

 _Crap, way to go, April!_

But then she spotted it – on one of the other men, all of whom were armed with ninja weapons. He had a _tessen._ Her heart in her throat, April turned her head back to the offensive man and forced a smile on her face.

"Come on, man. Where's your spirit of tourism?" And then, before he could respond, April took her free arm and smashed an elbow into the shocked man's jaw.

 _Jaw, joints,_ Leonardo had told her. _Those are weak points on pretty much any body._

 _Don't be afraid to let people think you're weak, April,_ Mikey had said with a twinkle in his eyes. _Underestimating an opponent is one of the worst mistakes a fighter can make. But I say – **Hey, let 'em.**_

" _Kanojo o teish_ i!" shouted one of the others, but April was off, out of the man's grip and rolling onto the ground in a flash. When she popped up next, it was to snatch the tessen off the side of one of the stunned Foot Clan ninjas and then take off in a full sprint.

The man she'd hit shrieked furiously and tore off after her, but April scrambled through a narrow thicket of trees that slowed the bigger men down. _Book it, April!_

Cracking and thrashing told her that the men were fighting their way through the leaves, and so April sucked in a deep breath and pushed herself into a run again. Unfortunately, the men made it through in just a few seconds, and the leader broke into a furious run that quickly caught up with her.

Dancing out of the reach of his outstretched hands, April whipped around a tree and let him stumble and fall behind her as he turned, and when he righted himself, it was only to receive the sharp bite of a tessen to the face. Howling with pain, the man clutched his bleeding face and advanced on her again. April turned to dart through the forest one more, but the massive form of a man in dark fabric stopped her, and so she positioned herself with a hard glare and faced the advancing group of men as they closed in on her.

" _Orokana on'na_ ," the leader snarled, a long blade appearing in his hand.

April backed up, her hand darting out with her fan. She would not be afraid of these guys! She wouldn't! Spinning on a circle, she entered her energy, and when the leader came running at her with his sword, she deflected most of the blow, even though it rocked her arm from the strength of his hit. He thrashed at her once, twice more, and she managed to block both but there was no way she was going to actually defeat him, not with the other men closing in on her with their weapons held high.

Fighting with the last ounce of her strength, April knocked away the man's sword and kicked him straight in the gut. Unfortunately, the recoil left her open and he knocked her wrist roughly with the hard hilt of his blade. The tessen went flying out of her hand and embedded itself in a tree, and the next thing April knew, a hit to her ribs sent her flying to the ground.

"Agh!" Dirt rushed up to meet her and this time, April couldn't help the cry of pain, especially when the man leaned down and clenched his hand on the delicate bones of her shoulder. He yanked her back until her spine curved and held the blade to her throat.

"Stupid girl! You and that Chinese girl are fools to make allies of the Hamato clan!" he growled at her, pushing the sharp edge at the skin of her neck, and it was as he yanked back her head that April's eyes turned to the branches of the seemingly peaceful forest.

She saw the flash of scarlet a split-second before her abuser did.

Something small and silver whistled through the air and in seconds, the man yanked his arm away with a pained scream, leaving April to drop back to the earth. She jumped up in a rush, scrambing to get away as the man looked frantically the shuriken buried deep in his hand. Blood dripped from the wound profusely, littering the forest floor below.

Before April could move more than a few feet away, the masked figure dropped down in front of her, separating her from the group of Foot Ninjas. When he rose to his full height and the Hamato crest came into view, April's heart leaped for joy.

 _Master Splinter!_

The other men cursed and snarled, their weapons at the ready, but when they turned the face the new masked ninja, they hesitated. His back to April, the newcomer paced the line of anxiously waiting men until his eyes came to rest on their injured leader.

" _Anata go homon suru byoki no shinseki o motte inai nodesu ka_?" the masked ninja asked, his voice low but not without a hint of derisive mocking that carried over even to April's ears.

The leader scowled heavily, blood still running down his face from April's hit. However, he refused to answer, only shifting his angry gaze from the ninja to April. The others fidgeted, waiting for his command, but none were willing to attack, and April had to wonder at that. That even outnumbering him six to one, they dared not cross April's rescuer.

When the man refused to speak, the masked ninja made a soft noise of disgust.

" _Koko kara nukedashimasu,"_ he said, shifting away from the group carelessly, even as yet another shuriken danced in his fingertips. Dark eyes, just visible over the top of his dark red mask, flickered to April. " _Matawa watashi wa kono shojo ni buki o atae, kanojo wa futatabi anato o katto dekiru yo ni narimasu._ "

Much of the exchange was lost to April, but the bleeding leader reacted swiftly with a lunge that his fellows immediately stopped, hands on his arms. He struggled for a moment, much to the indifferent amusement of the Hamato ninja. Finally, they released him and he jerked his arm away. With one final glare at April and her friend, he muttered something incoherent to his companions and they piled in the truck. After a guttural hiss from the engine, they drove away.

At long last, April exhaled.

Ouch. Her body hurt. Turning to face him, April wiped her face with a trembling hand and managed a smile. "Thank you, Yo -"

But when the ninja turned, fingers lifted at his cloth mask, April froze. Because the man who revealed his face was not Hamato Yoshi at all.

"Are you alright?" Saki asked, stepping up to her quickly and scanning her for serious injuries, even as he swept one large hand over his head and pushed back the cowl of his uniform. Struck silent by fear, April could only nod numbly as he checked her over, one hand lifted near her face. He directed the movements of her head without touching her, and she obliged, a heavy lump in her throat.

When he seemed satisfied, he dropped his hand and eyed her for a long moment.

"You fought them," he said at last. "With a _tessen._ " Saki had careful control of his facial features, April had noticed, but he couldn't quite disguise the incredulity in his tone. Finding her voice, April nodded and managed a half-hearted wave. Ow, her wrist hurt.

"Yeah, I actually train a little at home." _To protect myself from you, actually._

"You train more than a little," he said knowledgably, reaching to the ground and picking up the clipped house keys that had dropped from her belt. He handed them to her, and the brush of their fingers made April feel oddly aware.

With a quick shrug, April flashed him a smile. "And hey, look. It worked out!"

He turned, shifting his shoulder in the direction of the city. "You should let me walk you back to town. Those men undestimated you today. They may not do so again."

Knowing he was right, but still unwilling to walk with _The Shredder_ of all people, April tried to talk him into letting her go alone. However, he refused, and they ended up making their way back down the trail April had come. Watching him out of the corner of her eye, April noted with a shiver that he walked much the same way she'd seen him do in her own time. With his large shoulders squared, his spine perfectly straight, and his hands clasped behind him.

Fortunately, he seemed content to walk in silence, but April couldn't help the burning questions on the tip of her tongue.

"So who were those guys? I mean, Shen told me some about the Foot Clan, but..."

Saki glanced at her, then turned his eyes forward again. "Most of those men are nothing, lesser families that seek to gain favor by pressing for the return of the Foot Clan. They are poorly trained. However, the man who attacked you," he paused, and April saw the reflection of thought in his eyes. "That was the eldest son of the Foot Clan's previous leader. He is called Oroku Nagi."

Yet another shudder wormed its way down April's spine. Oroku Nagi. If he was the son of the previous Foot Clan's leader, then that meant... Her eyes drifted to Saki. The man he'd just struck with a shuriken was his older brother, and neither of them seemed to know it.

They came to the clearing that marked the road to town, and it was not much further before they crossed through a series of buildings. Saki paused, his arms relaxing at his sides. "You should stay away from him," he told her, strangely sincere in his speech. He even frowned a little, and she could see him checking her for injuries again. "He is dangerous."

"He seemed pretty afraid of you," April couldn't help but note.

At this, Saki's lips quirked. "As he should be," he replied simply. Perhaps he might have said more, but a voice cut through the air.

"April!" Tang Shen hurried up, her wide eyes taking in her dissheveled friend's appearance. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I'm fine," April assured her, but her mind quickly flipped to a different track altogether. For the first time since her arrival, she had the Shredder and Tang Shen in the same place. She turned to watch them both, determined and alert. "Well, I'm fine thanks to – uh, Saki here."

At this, Tang Shen turned to face Saki as if noticing him for the first time, and he moved in her direction to bow.

"Oh, Saki! I have not seen you in quite a while," said Shen with a polite smile. "How is your family?"

"Well," he said with a cordial nod. "Thank you."

And April stared. _What the hell? That was it?_ She wanted to scream. Oroku Saki was supposed to be in such a crazy, obsessive, all-encompassing love with Tang Shen that he tried to kill his own brother and then spent years – _decades! -_ mourning himself into a bitter, hollow shell of a person.

These two looked at each other like they were each other's great-aunts.

Try as she might to watch Saki for any variation in his features at all, any hint of surpressed but no less ardent love for Tang Shen, all she saw was etiquette and unhindered complacency. After a few seconds of silence, Saki faced April again and said, "Please be careful."

Distracted, she muttered something affirmative in return and let him walk off.

* * *

"I cannot believe they attacked you," Tang Shen said for the hundredth time, throwing down her dish rag in disgust. "You should call the police."

April calmly ran her own drying rag over the dish before she placed it in the rack. "You already said they get paid to look the other way. What good is a corrupt police force?"

Shen frowned, her arms crossed over her chest. "This is the sort of barbaric thing I have been talking about. They cannot be allowed to continue like this! You could have been killed today if not for Saki!" At the mention of Saki, April turned to face her friend curiously.

"Hey, how often do you talk to Saki? Are you friends?"

"Us?" she asked, eyebrow lifted. "I have seen Saki maybe three times in the last year. I could not tell you two things about him." April huffed, irritated. None of this was how she knew it to be. Saki and Yoshi had not been all that much older than they were now when their fight over Tang Shen bubbled over into physical confrontation. Surely he would already be in love with her if that was the case?

"Why do you ask?" Shen inquired, and April shrugged.

"I don't know. I was just wondering." She perched on a stool at the kitchen counter, silent until yet another thought popped into her head.

"Hey, when those Foot guys attacked me earlier," she said, tilting her head at Tang Shen. "They called you – that Chinese girl. Why?"

At this, Shen smiled softly, though it was in a very resigned sort of way. "Well," she said lightly, "that is because my grandfather, Tang Bai, was a Chinese immigrant to Japan." April lifted her head, her eyes wide. She'd never heard this before. Secretly, she'd always wondered at Shen's name – Tang did not sound very Japanese – but she'd never thought to ask.

"And so my father was half-Chinese," Shen continued. "And I am one-quarter, though I have never been to China." She came to sit next to April and gave her a thoughtful look. "Unfortunately, people like Oroku Nagi, who seek to be ignorant and hurtful, try to make it sound like an insult to be called Chinese."

"Does it bother you?" asked April quietly.

Shen tilted her head and her smile grew. "No," she answered, and April believed her instantly. "Because whether I am Chinese, Japanese or – maybe even one day - American, I will always be Tang Shen." She then nodded firmly.

"And no one can make me feel ashamed of that."

* * *

April lay awake that night, her eyes staring at the ceiling and seeing nothing. A conversation with Mikey floated back into her head, and words she'd dismissed at the time circulated her consciousness.

" _It was really weird."_

" _What was?"_

" _Seeing the Shredder look that way."_

" _What way?"_

" _Like the good guy."_

* * *

Author's Note: Please forgive any glaring mistakes in this chapter. I am like zzzz...


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Last update before DragonCon! Thank you to you lovely readers and reviewers. I never wait long enough between updates to get a lot of followers, but... I just can't help it. Stories need to be told! There will probably be another week or two after this update before you get another one, though.

And for anyone who was unable to translate the Japanese from the last chapter (because google translate does not respond well to Romaji) the conversation went something like this:

Saki: Shouldn't you be visiting sick relatives?

Saki: Get out out of here, before I give that girl a weapon and let her cut your face again.

Hence Oroku Nagi's aggressive reaction. :)

* * *

The separation from her friends and family felt heavier with each passing day.

Sure, she had Tang Shen, and she was unspeakably grateful for her friend. Who knows what would've happened if Shen hadn't taken her in? She wouldn't be accomplishing Renet's cryptic, almost certainly misdirected purpose, that's for sure.

And she had enough to keep her busy, between having fun with Shen, working her laundry job and keeping up with training, which did miracles for her mental health.

But still.

How long did Renet expect her to stay here? Did the turtles and Master Splinter even know she was gone? What about her dad, her aunt? Did her school know? It was these thoughts and more that kept April awake at night, and even though she'd stubbornly forced herself to keep a clear mind laced with optimism, the scare with those Foot ninja earlier that day had made her all too aware of her own vulnerability. She needed her friends and family. She needed them and she _missed_ them, so much that sometimes she woke in the middle of the night with such a deep pain in her chest that she thought, in that moment, she might actually die, because the longing to return home had manifested in a frighteningly physical way more times than she could count.

Shen found her awake that night, sitting by the window in the living room with tears rolling down her face.

"Oh, April..." Shen pushed at her eyes sleepily and settled at her friend's folded legs. "What is wrong?"

Hating her tears, April wiped them away forcefully, and for several minutes, she refused to speak. The night outside was clear and blanketed in stars, a hint of Osaka's warm city lights reaching the window of Shen's home with sparse rays of orange.

"I just miss my home," April murmured at last, unable to keep the words steady.

Shen frowned deeply, her hand reaching out to brush over April's. "What can we do to help you get home? How can I help?" But April shook her head. It wasn't up to her.

"I have to wait for a friend," she told Shen truthfully. "I can't go back home until she comes."

It shouldn't have made any sense to Shen, and in truth, it probably didn't. However, she nodded in understanding and squeezed April's hand with a soft smile. Then she scooted closer, looping an arm around April's shoulders.

"I'm sorry to see you suffer," she whispered. "But may I admit something to you?"

April looked up, and something in her heart lifted at Shen's quirky smile, and the words that followed. "I am selfishly glad you are here," Shen told her, giving her shoulders another squeeze. "And I will never be sorry to have met you, for when you do go back home, I will be so, so happy." She shifted around to face April and her smile brightened.

"Because I know that it will only give me the chance to say 'hello' to you again some day."

April jumped into Shen's arms and cried, but it soon turned into laughter, the way it so often did with her loving friend.

* * *

"What in the..."

April turned the garment this way and that in her hands. She was supposed to be hanging it up outside – some more delicate items couldn't be tossed in the rickety old dryer – but she couldn't make heads or tails of it. The idea that it might very well be a lobster costume was rapidly approaching April's sensibility when she felt something on the top of her hand. A quick glance down confirmed her panic.

"AGGHH!" she shrieked, batting at the monstrous, beady-eyed, fifteen-legged bug thing that had found its devilish way onto her fingers. Unfortunately, this made her drop the garment, stumble into the gate surrounding the laundry area and flip right over the top, where she landed in the narrow street with a _thud._

Clutching her pounding heart and still on the ground, April whimpered. "Oh, god -"

" _What_ are you doing?"

Another short shriek startled April more than her visitor, who stood just outside the business with a raised eyebrow. Blue eyes lifted to the figure, starting at the sandal-covered feet and traveling up the scarlet fabric of the now familiar Hamato uniform.

"Saki," April greeted, her voice cracking. Cheeks flushed, she hurried to a standing position and brushed herself off. Her blush only deepened when she saw him give her a vaguely amused look, though he did gently direct her away from the street to avoid being hit by traffic.

"I saw a bug," she said by way of explanation.

"Ah," he said, no less amused than he'd been to start with, and April made a face at him before she gathered what was left of her dignity and stepped up to the gate of Iida-san's laundry yard.

"Do you always cause this much trouble?" asked Saki, gesturing to the mess. April glanced around slowly, her hand finding the highest fence post and drumming there.

"You know," she said slowly. "I won't lie. My life is pretty much just one really inconvenient situation to the next."

April registered more than a little hint of surprise when Saki chuckled quietly, his head tilted at her in a bemused fashion. "I believe that," he told her earnestly. "Which is why I thought you might need this." Reaching in bag situated at his feet, Saki pulled out something and handed it to her, which she accepted with a great deal of hesitation.

Her fingers brushed over the cool metal and, after a moment's inspection, she flicked her hand.

"A tessen," she breathed, her eyes lighting up. The one she'd used on Oroku Nagi's guys had been damaged and left in the forest, and even if she'd kept it, she knew it wasn't half as nice as this one. This tessen was so much like the one Master Splinter had given her, predominately black and with the Hamato crest proudly displayed in the center. However, where there had been white accents in her old tessen, this one had the same deep red hue of Saki's _keikogi._

It gave the fan-shaped weapon an elegant but sinister feel, one that April felt in the pads of her fingers as she turned it over in awe, her heart hammering in her ribs. The sharp edge caught the sun and glinted ominously, pulling April back to reality.

"I – Saki, this is... way too nice, I can't accept this."

To accept a gift from the Shredder was almost more than April could take, no matter how eased she felt at having such a fine weapon in her hands again, the outpouring of confidence that rushed over her when she held it in her grip.

"Of course you can," he told her sensibly. "If Oroku Nagi or his friends attack you again, you should be prepared."

"But this is such a nice gift," April countered shyly, pushing her hair back from her face. "I mean, this obviously belongs to your family. I don't deserve something like this. I have nothing to offer you for it."

Saki's carefully maintained features cracked into a small smirk. "Leave another cut on Oroku Nagi, and I will consider the debt paid in full." He gestured at the fan, "Besides, you should not think of it as a gift. Consider it a necessary defense."

Her lips pursed, April folded the fan in her curled fingers, the options weighing heavily on her mind as Saki waited, patient and silent. He _did_ have a point, and having a tessen again would do wonders for her training. Plus, cutting that stupid guy in the face again would be nice.

"Fine," she said at long last, a smile working its way on to her face. And then she added, "Thank you. It's... amazing. Really, it's beautiful." She meant it, too, as if it wasn't obvious from the way she clutched it to her chest. As much as she longed to go back home, this made her feel just a tiny bit closer to the turtles and Master Splinter.

"Good," he said, his dark eyes on her and his lips still quirked, his satisfaction evident.

April tucked the tessen under her arm so she could move some of the laundry baskets out of the way and step around them. "I still feel like I should pay you back in some way, though," she admitted, because she was a well-mannered young lady, damn it. To her never-ending surprise, Saki paused thoughtfully.

"You could take a walk with me," he offered, as if that was repayment enough.

Caught off guard, April nearly dropped the tessen. Was he flirting with her? It was hard to tell. Unlike Yoshi, his interactions with her and seemingly everyone else were quite cagey. Very little of what he thought seemed to cross his face, and April wondered if even those were careful moves on his part. Revealing only what he needed to, at the precise time.

Still, his offer seemed genuine. And yet April hesitated, a flash of remembrance making her recall his nature in her own time. His features, his voice, his actions as _she_ knew him.

"I – Well, I'm at work," she started nervously, ready to make an excuse, but Iida-san chose that moment to shove the front door open while jabbering on the old cordless phone to a customer. She observed the mess April had created, grunted in displeasure and slapped a wad of wrinkled _yen_ in April's hand.

" _Ikimasu_!" the old woman growled, waving her away.

"Uh," April curled the money in her hand and turned her flushed face to Saki. "I guess I'm free."

* * *

"So," April said as they walked the many paths in town, all of which led to a small park in the center of the market place. "This may seem like kind of a strange question, but how old are you?" Before he could answer, she went on in a fumble. "It's just, you said you were younger than Shen, but I don't ever see you go to school or anything, so I just wondered."

At her side, Saki walked a liesurely pace, his hands clasped behind his back. "I only went to public school when I was younger. My father homeschooled us as soon as we were done with primary school, when our real training began. So no, I am not technically done with school." And then, with a glance in her direction, he added pleasantly, "I am seventeen."

"Oh!" April exclaimed, the gears in her head turnin as she tried to process the idea of a seventeen year old Shredder. "Me, too." And then realizing her mistake, she glanced at him quickly, afraid to meet his curious gaze. "I, uh. I was home-schooled too, and then I went to college early, and then I … I applied to … uh, transfer to Japan." She cleared her throat, adopting a kick in her step that had no real purpose other than to make her look even more stupid.

"My university works really fast," she added with a confident nod.

Saki was quiet for a moment before he said, "Or perhaps... They were simply in a rush to get rid of you because you cause so many problems."

April stopped her walk, her mouth hanging open. "Agh!" she said indignantly, before she caught just the barest fleeting glimpse of a smile from Saki. She closed her mouth with a grunt and fought a giggle.

"You're making fun of me," she said, folding her arms as Saki continued to walk, making April rush to keep up with him. This time, he did chuckle.

"Only a little," he teased, eyes straight forward. April grinned and rounded him, bouncing backwards in a quick trot.

"Which, you know, is really unwise on your part," she told him haughtily. "Considering you've already seen what I can do with a tessen."

"Oh," Saki said, looking quite entertained. "What a challenge that would be."

"I don't appreciate your sarcasm," April told him matter-of-factly, laughing before she turned and walked shoulder to shoulder with him again. They rounded a corner to find themselves on the outskirts of town, and the wind rolled over them pleasantly, cool and fervent in the way only autumn had any right to be. She took the moment to study Saki at her side.

He was only seventeen, and yet walking next to him had only just now afforded her the realization of how _big_ he was. She hadn't noticed in the truck, but Saki was almost as tall and broad as he was in her own time. Yoshi was pretty big, too, particularly compared to the other men she'd seen around town. What was their dad feeding them, she wondered, Popeye Spinach?

Whatever it was, she had to bet that either of them could probably do pull-ups with April clinging to their ankles. The mental image made her snicker.

"Do you think Oroku Nagi and his friends will cause any more trouble?" she asked, her hand reaching up to sweep over a low-hanging branch, which Saki avoided.

"Possibly," he answered nonchalantly, making April raise a brow at him.

"Your brother seems to think they're gearing up for an attack," she mentioned with a casual air, her eyes turned to gauge his reaction. When Saki merely shrugged, April made an annoyed face. "Aren't you worried about them at all?"

Saki re-clasped his hands behind him. "They are a group of fools led by an idiot," he answered dryly, before raising a brow at her. "No."

A snort of laughter was April's response, and she saw him cast a look of amusement out of the corner of his eyes before turning forward once more. "My brother feels they are a danger," he continued. "But if they are, we will handle them, as we always have." They stepped into a clearing that went to the heart of town, where a grove of trees, benches and gazebos.

"Yoshi is an excellent fighter," Saki went on, much to April's mounting interest. "He has our family's safety on his mind at all times, and he posseses a great many admirable qualities, such as perception, determination and honor."

They came to the park clearing and quickly found it occupied. Saki sighed, "Common sense, on the other hand..."

"Okay, okay," said Yoshi from several feet away, laughter cutting him off before he gained control of himself and waved at his friend, who stood opposite him next to a market stall. "Just – hold still, okay?"

The other young man reached up to the cup balanced on top of his head and then picked up a small saucer, which he slurped _sake_ out of. "O – Okay, no – wait – okay, I have it! Just – do not miss!"

"I hardly miss!" Yoshi called out, holdig up a very large throwing knife.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" asked April, her eyes wide. Saki exhaled heavily and held up a hand to her, shaking his head. In front of them, Yoshi lined up to aim, then stopped and raised a hand to shield his eyes.

"Tahno?"

The guy with the cup on his head waved his whole arm excitedly. "I'm right here!"

"Ah," Yoshi grinned. "It's getting dark out here! Okay, let's go – Ready? One... two... three!" He snapped his arm in throw and the knife soared through the air, narrowly missing the cup on Tahno's head, instead slicing through a rope holding the market stall canopy.

Which instigated the snap of a beam, leading to the collapse of the awning, and then -

 _CRASH._

The entire market stall fell in on itself with a thunderous boom and a cloud of smoke and dirt. April stared, mouth gaping, while Saki stood next to her apathetically.

" _Kuso!"_ Tahno shouted, before bolting, much to Yoshi's distress.

"Get back here!" Yoshi shouted, his eyes wide. "You sorry – I will find you, Tahno!" And then Yoshi turned in a swift circle, only just now spotting Saki and April. His face lit up.

"Saki!" he shouted, tossing his arms in the air with delight. "My dearest brother," he pointed at the collapsed stall. "Who could have forseen that?"

"Anyone but you," Saki deadpanned, making April laugh behind her hand.

"Which is exactly why I need your help," Yoshi continued without skipping a beat. "Because Father gets back from Osaka in an hour and I really need -"

"No, Yoshi!" Saki pointed at Yoshi. "I am not getting in trouble for you again! I am still doing extra assignments from the last time you did something like this!"

"Hello April," Yoshi cut in with a charming smile, earning a giggle and a wave from her before he turned to Saki again. "But I need your help! Please, this will not take much time to clean up if you are here!"

"What on earth happened?" Shen approached, her bewildered gaze taking in the damage as April fought to hide her amusement.

"Shen!" Yoshi beamed, his attention diverted. He made a motion to run to her, but Saki caught him around his middle and dug in his heels to keep him there.

"No, Yoshi! You are not leaving me to get in trouble for this!"

" _But Shen!_ "

"No!" The two grappled, with Saki fighting to put Yoshi on his shoulder to keep him from running off, and April had no choice but to choke back her laughter long enough to give Saki a smile.

"I should probably go," she said, loud enough to be heard over Yoshi's protests.

Saki pulled all of his considerable weight against Yoshi's struggling form. "Yes, goodbye," he grunted, unwilling to let Yoshi go, and Shen linked arms with April as they both turned away, giggling all the while.

* * *

At home that night, April showed the tessen to Shen and explained the walk with Saki.

"Hmm," Shen folded up her legs on the floor, socked feet curled at the toes. "I have never seen Saki go out of his way to talk to anyone," she noted with a mischievous look in April's direction. "Much less deliver them a gift."

"It's not a gift," April put the tessen next to her bed pile. "It's a measure of defense." There, it sounded better when she said it like that, but Shen didn't seem convinced, so April poked her in the ribs until she turned on the movie.

Halfway through the film, April glanced at her friend.

"Never?" she asked. "You've never seen him do that?"

A piece of popcorn jumped from Shen's fingertips to her mouth. "Never," she said lightly, eyes on the screen.

* * *

April didn't see Saki or Yoshi over the next few days, leading her back to her usual schedule of work, training and hanging out with Shen. The days grew colder, and April wondered if she would be home by Christmas. Then she wondered, in the same moment, whether that mattered when dealing with something like time travel.

Disheartened and finding she did not want to return to an empty home, April wandered the town until she came to an area she'd never explored. It was on the dismal side of town, many of the homes poorly maintained and the few store fronts closed and boarded. Here, tall arches in disrepair stood over paths leading out of town. They looked old and untraveled, with much of even the entrance overgrown with foliage.

Curious, April poked around until she found old stone steps, grey and cracked, accented with green plant life that had taken home there. With a glance back at the town, April moved up one step and then another, quickly finding herself engulfed by shadows.

It was late in the afternoon, and much like that day when she'd encountered Oroku Nagi, it grew darker and darker as she moved away from town. However, this time she felt as if were moving towards something, something at the top of these long and ancient steps.

Roots twisted their way up the stone siding of the stairs, lower than April's waist and crumbling in many places. The distant chatter of the market long faded away, April could only strain for any sounds that might hint to her where she was going. However, nothing but the murmur of insects and the skittering of small woodland animals greeted her, so she continued.

She came to a landing, a mere circle of grey stone that had once housed a few benches and perhaps a shrine some time ago, but was now home to piles of broken rocks and scorch marks. Her eyes scanned the ruin, her awareness spiked considerably. Something felt _alive_ here, and when April turned to the stairs that left the landing and continued up the mountain, she felt a powerful tug on her senses. Something drew her to the staircase and she continued upwards.

Moss covered rocks lined the path, mixed in with a considerable amount of debris that grew more and more the higher April climbed. When she reached out to touch a rail, she found it dark with old ash. She wiped her hand off on her jeans and continued.

Two more landings like the last, all decorated with rubble and broken statues, marked with dark burns and stains. The pressure on April's chest, the borderline painful tug on her consciousness compelled April to continue. She was quite exhausted when she finally reached a landing with something different. Something in tact.

A great stone, covered in moss and defaced on its front, stood tall and ominous over a dilapidated entrance. On it, one large script ran across the top, and though April could read only a little Japanese, she knew it to read _Oroku._

Eyes turning to the entrance, she walked over a pile of withered, petrified wood and crossed the threshold into what she realized with mounting horror was the last great stand of the clan Oroku.

Flag poles, bereft of their symbol, still lay snapped in the dirt. Pockets of sunlight pierced the branches overhead, bathing the ruin in an ethereal light that did nothing to disguise the death that ran so vivid here. The pressure April felt her in chest felt like the heaviest of weights, and every step she took forward, she wished she hadn't.

It was a massive area, and if it was anything like the Hamato's monastery, it had once been home to a beautiful, lavish estate with several small buildings surrounding the main home. In front of her, a slanted roof sat just where it had caved in so many years ago, surrounded by the skeleton that had once supported it. Stone lions lay in pieces next to the pedestals that had carried them, and soil too dark to be natural blanketed the land in an appropiately macabre fashion. Glass crunched under April's shoe, remnants of windows long gone. This had been where Master Splinter's father had fought the Foot Clan, April realized in disbelief. It was here he'd killed the Foot Clan leader.

And here where he'd found Oroku Saki as a crying infant. Where he'd decided, in that very moment, to bring him home and raise him as his own next to his first born son. Had Saki ever been here, April wondered. Did he have even the slightest knowledge of the graveyard that had once been his home?

Fighting for breath, April reached out to steady herself on one of the crumbling statues, but when her fingers brushed the gritty stone, a sharp pang brought her to her knees.

 _Screaming. The deafening roar of fire as it burst through the wall. The crackling was so loud, it hurt her ears._

She yanked her hand away from the stone, her eyes wide and brimming with tears. "What the hell..." April turned over her hand in front of her face, as if it could answer her questions. Had she just... ?

She dropped to her knees, staining the front of her jeans and placed her open palm on the dark ground.

" _Anata wa kono tame ni shinde shimaisau!"_

 _An angry snarl, the clanging of swords, and curses filled the air while blinding red mixed with a flash of silver. The entire place was on fire, and yet people still fought._

April pulled her hands away from the ground, stunned. Trembling, she placed her curled hands against her chest and rose to her feet. She could _feel_ the battle taking place around her, the manic fervor as warriors fought to the death rather than try to escape, even as ordinary citizens – servants, children, their parents – all scrambled to find a way out.

She could feel the heat of the flames as they licked their way up her arms. God, it felt so _real._

April turned on her heel, ready to get out, but she tripped over something and fell to her knees. Her fingers slipped into the cool, dark dirt, and she hurriedly snatched them back to her chest before the memories could worm their way into her senses once more. Then, as her eyes cleared a little and she saw where she'd disturbed the dirt, she noticed something small and bronze.

Reaching forward curiously, April pushed aside the dirt and found herself holding a key.

She turned it in her hand, fingers brushing away the last of the dirt. It had no attachment and no inscription, and even though April turned and looked all around, she found nothing it could go to. Maybe it had once been a key to the home, now forgotten and useless.

Despite the strong desire to forget this place, April felt she couldn't simply leave it there, so she tucked it into her pocket and stood. With one last glance over her shoulder, she sucked in a deep breath and left the way she had come, making a much faster journey down the stairs than she had coming up.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Okay, so this chapter would have been out sooner, but my power surged and destroyed all the shit in my living room, including my internet modem. So I have been without. (Not to mention our two televisions and X-Box getting fried... Wtf.)

But hey, it could always be worse and they're just things. My biggest beef was that I couldn't get my chapter out. And now I can! Hooray! And thank you for the reviews! I read them and then re-read them and then re-read them... you get the drift.

Also: OH MY GOD, I MET ROB PAULSEN (Donatello voice actor in the current series, Raphael in the original) AT DRAGONCON WHILE DRESSED AS APRIL O'NEIL. One of the greatest moments of my life, no lie. You can read about it on my tumblr if you're so inclined (and see my picture with him, in which I am a totally starstruck goof who blushed when he talked to me in Donnie voice.)

Anyway. Story. PS - my horizon lines are trying not to appear. So if you see a weird break in the formatting, that's why.

* * *

A few days after giving her the tessen, Saki surprised April by showing up at her work again.

And then, the next day and the next, and pretty soon it became routine for him to stop by, at nearly the same time every day, and lounge on the fence outside of Iida-san's laundry shop while April battled to pin sheets and robes to the outside laundry lines.

At first, she didn't really know what to think, but eventually she began to look forward to the short meetings (because Saki never stayed more than fifteen minutes or so) with great enthusiasm, so much so that she often caught herself looking at the clock to make sure she was outdoors when he came by.

Often, he listened to her ramble, whenever she could think of stories to tell him that didn't involve the turtles, or any of mysterious future items that didn't exist in 1991. Some days, their conversations were sparse, and they simply enjoyed each other's company and the steadily cooling weather outside.

The first few meetings, Saki was as almost as short with her as he'd been in the very beginning, seemingly content to watch as she went about her business and rattled off her goings-on to him. Then, as their time together increased, his body language relaxed. His smiles grew more common. He spoke more and she learned things about him.

And after a week or so, April could almost swear she was beginning to loosen him up.

* * *

"Have you ever tried this?"

April waved a baggie of brightly-colored candy at Saki as he approached, her mind reeling with envy at the easy way he hopped the fence and found a seat on the top rail. He eyed the multi-colored bag with distaste.

"I am not in the habit of eating candy," he informed her stoically.

No longer deterred by his flat tone, April raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Yeah," she said, eyeing him up and down. "I'm sure." _Can't exactly have a body like that and spend your spare time chowing down on Skittles_ , she thought, and Saki seemed to read her mind because a hint of cockiness lingered in his expression. Flushing, April cleared her throat and opened the bag.

"Well," she said pointedly, leaning against the fence next to his upraised knees. "I want you to try this with me!" And then, with a sweet smile, she waved the baggie again. "Please?"

As if he was truly grieved, Saki huffed and extended his large hand. Delighted, April emptied some candy in to it and then poured some for herself. "Okay, so we both try it at the same time, okay?"

"Fine," he grunted.

"Okay," April stifled a giggle. "You better do it! On three, ready? One, two, three!" The two teens slapped their hands against their mouths in unison, inhaling the peculiar candy. A few seconds of silence ticked by, before they both screwed up their faces.

"Oh my god!" April half-choked, half-laughed. "This is awful!"

"Eugh!" Saki spat out the candy in the grass. "Who _gave_ you this?"

"Shen!"

"Shen is a terrible friend!"

Their mad spitting out of the candy was broken up by laughter, even Saki hopping off the fence to hold his knees as they both tried to catch their breath. The wild guffaws and disgusted shouts quickly drew a spectactor.

"Ooh!" Yoshi snatched up the bag from April's hand. "I love this candy."

With equal looks of dismay, April and Saki straightened to watch Yoshi shovel some of the candy in his mouth gleefully. This brought about another round of laughter, but it was quickly cut off by the slamming of the laundry business door.

"Oh, no! Iida-san!" April whirled in her spot, knowing she'd made a mess – again – but when she did, she saw her two companions (and her damn candy) were both gone. Gasping indignantly, she shook a fist at the sky. "You traitors!"

Hanging out with ninjas. Some things never changed.

* * *

One day, April turned to greet Saki as he approached, only to find a dopey doggie grin at her elbow.

"Ah!" she jumped in surprise, relaxing when she saw the dog sit back on his haunches and tilt his head at her, ears perked.

"He will not hurt you," came Saki's voice as he rounded the fence. "He is mine."

"Oh!" April smiled, crouching down and patting the friendly dog on the head. "Aw, he's so cute!" Who would have thought, Shredder – a dog person? It made her giggle.

But wait - how could she have forgotten? Shredder _had_ brought a dog with him to New York when he'd first encountered the turtles. April paused to try and remember what had happened to it.

Oh, right. It had gotten mixed up with Chris Bradford during his mutation and turned him into DogPound. Poor thing, having to mutate with that ugly brute. Funny how she had never really thought about any of this in her own time.

Saki stopped next to her and watched her play with the happy canine.

"I didn't know you liked dogs," April said, straightening with a smile. Saki looked down at the pet with a great deal of annoyance.

"I like _smart_ dogs," he said, before stooping in front of the pup and gently taking his snout in his hand. "Ino is very stupid." _Lliiiick._ Hysterical laughter seized April at Saki's obvious look of disgust. Plus the disgruntled noise he made while wiping his face was prettygreat.

"You tell him, Ino!" she cheered.

* * *

"So what do you do that brings you to town every day at the same time?" she asked one day, her arms flapping a damp sheet in the wind.

Saki glanced up from where he sat, perfectly balanced with his legs propped up on the fence.

"Calligraphy lessons," he said off-handedly as he twirled a knife in his fingers. "My father thinks it is important to keep our skills in the arts, in order to make us better ninja." He gestured with the knife, his eyebrows lifted. "And yet, notice that Yoshi is not here. He managed to convince Father he is too old for these lessons."

"Calligraphy is a great thing to learn," April said earnestly, making her way over to the fence and watching the reflective blade twirl in his fingers. "Though, apparently, it's pretty messy. I'd always wondered what all this..." she gingerly prodded his arm, smudged with dark ink. "... was about." She snickered.

"Ah, yes," he groaned, lifting his arm to inspect it. "Ink gets everywhere."

April leaned forward on the fence. "What's this?" she asked, looking now at the inside of his wrist, where a dark swirling mark stretched for a few inches of skin. Saki peered at what she'd pointed out and shrugged.

"A birthmark, I think. It's been there as long as I can remember."

"I have lots of birthmarks," April said with a nod, and when Saki looked at her curiously, she pointed at her face, where all her freckles were. This made Saki smile, and April couldn't resist the urge to mirror the expression.

"I like yours better," he told her.

* * *

" _Let go of me, you honorless dog!"_

 _A scuffle, the blurred image of a street lined with worried townspeople. Out of the foggy outline burst a figure, bleeding from his arm. A man in his twenties, features twisted into a snarl._

" _I will end your life, Hamato Yuuta!"_

 _More figures gathered, all distorted and broken. Muffled yelling, more screams, and then a voice, clearer and closer than the others before._

" _Make no mistake," said the unfamiliar male voice. "You and I will meet in battle again. And I will kill you." The voices grew indistinct and fuzzy once more, and for just a moment, two glaring faces were visible amongst the indiscriminate crowd._

 _It all faded away._

* * *

April jerked away with a strangled gasp, her eyes wide as she took in the sights around her. Shen's living room, her blanket pile. Heavy against her neck, she felt the weight of the key, and she reached up to feel it on her collarbone. When she'd spoken to Shen, she'd told her she'd simply found it in the woods. Her friend had then given her a leather cord and tied the key to a necklace, which she gave back to April.

"Keep it," she had told her. "You never know where a key may lead."

Now, with the moon still high in the sky and her heart pounding, April frowned down at the mysterious object, gripped tightly in her fingers. What had she just seen?

Disturbed, April rose and tip-toed into Shen's bedroom. She didn't know what she expected her friend to do, particularly in the middle of the night, but when she sat on the edge of Shen's bed and prodded her awake, she found her more prone to cuddling than late-night talking.

Which, in all honesty, helped quite a bit too, so April let herself get wrapped up in Shen's bed and fell asleep once more.

* * *

When the dream continued to plague her the following day, April took a chance and asked Saki a question she'd been thinking on for a few weeks now.

"Hey," she said, folding a sheet over her arm. "What exactly happened to start the whole attack on the Oroku clan? Shen mentioned a fight in the streets."

Saki looked up from where he'd been sharpening the same knife from before, one leg high on the top railing of the fence. At April's question, he paused and settled her with a thoughtful look.

"It was less of a fight," he told her. "And more Oroku Keiji attacking my father in the middle of the marketplace, unprovoked, like the coward that he was." Saki set aside his tools and dropped to his feet. "They exchanged words, and my father cut Oroku Keiji with a knife. Before they could fight any further, however, their clansmen arrived. They decided not to fight, because there were so many townspeople around."

He slipped his knife into the bindings on his hands, which April had only recently noticed both he and Yoshi wore. Just like the turtles.

"However, after that day, there was no attempt to hide their disdain. If two ninja of opposing clans met, they would fight, often to the death. It was only when my father, Hamato Yuuta, led an attack in the night on the Oroku estate that the war between our clans was finally put to a stop."

April hung up the sheet she'd been holding, her mind turning over Saki's words carefully. Saki was talking about the death of his own father, and he had no idea. If even that were not troubling enough, he seemed to be rather indifferent about it altogether.

"And Oroku Keiji? What happened to him?"

Saki watched her carefully. "My father killed him, ran him through with a sword while his clansmen cheered him on." He came to lean on a railing, his posture casual. "My uncle says it was a glorious moment for our clan. After that, the Oroku clan was no more."

Unable to mask her uneasy feelings, April turned her face away and pretended to be very interested in her work. Still, Saki seemed to sense her strange mood.

"It was a good battle," he told her, imploring. "We created peace after thousands of years of rivalry."

"But is it worth it?" she couldn't help but ask, turning to face him, her eyes low before she looked to his. "Is it really peace if so many people had to die to get it?"

Saki's expression was placid, untroubled.

"So long as it is the right people dying," he said.

* * *

"Wake up!"

Shen's command barely preceded her wild leap onto the bed, jarring April out of her sleep and earning her a groan from her redheaded friend. "Whaaaat?" April pulled at the sheets, trying to cover her face, but Shen was having none of it.

"We should take a trip today," said Shen. "I think we should go into Osaka. Have a girl day!"

April edged back the bedsheets from her face, squinting suspiciously at her roomie, who was way too happy this early in the morning. April's pile of blankets on the floor were a thing of the past, and now she just slept in Shen's bed with her. It was way more comfy.

"Mm, Osaka?" she repeated in a grumble.

"Yes!" Shen ripped back the sheets. "Go, go, go!"

And so April rose, feeling much more awake after she'd showered and eaten some breakfast. Just as they were getting ready to leave, Shen lost her car keys, and April stepped outside to make sure they weren't in the front yard.

However, she became distracted when she glanced uphill, her eyes finding focus on a group of scarlet-clad ninjas, all moving and shouting in unison. At the front, pacing and giving orders in booming voices, were Saki and Yoshi.

A curious sensation wiggled down April's spine. On the one hand, the sight was comforting. Yoshi looked and sounded, for the first time ever, like Master Splinter. His hands behind his back, his face stern, his voice echoing over the crowd of ninjas.

And yet, on the other hand... Saki.

So much like the man she'd known in her own time, his eyes cool and calculated even at a distance. His deep voice, hard and toneless, snapping each ninja to attention whenever he was near. It was obvious they were leading the exercises, despite their youth, and as April watched, they broke apart the large group of ninja and took their place at the center of a circle.

Edging closer, April hid in the shade of some trees and watched.

Yoshi and Saki faced each other, each bowing stiffly to the other and then settling into defensive stances. This lasted for mere seconds before they launched at one another, and – _yeesh,_ she'd thought Leo and Raph could go at it pretty hard sometimes. Yoshi and Saki fought like they were ready to snap a neck.

One of Yoshi's kicks at Saki's side certainly had the strength to take out a few rib bones, but Saki deflected it and countered with a jab that looked like it could go straight through a wall. The other ninja took cautious steps back, their eyes sharp and acute over the top of their masks.

Their moves almost too fast to see, Yoshi and Saki met over and over again, strike after strike, each knocking the other down and then getting back up before anyone else even noticed. Then, Saki rushed forward with a cut at Yoshi's ankles, knocking him to his back hard enough to keep him there for a moment. It was all Saki needed, and he moved, fist held high, ready to strike the final blow on Yoshi.

But the elder moved in a whirlwind of legs and arms, catching Saki by the waist and tossing him to the ground. Before Saki could react, Yoshi was on him, his fist a mere inch from Saki's jaw. Their father stepped forward, his face unreadable.

" _Yame_!"

April released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and to her relief, Yoshi relaxed as well. He stood off of Saki and offered him a hand.

When Saki didn't immediately take it, fear lanced April's heart. Was she about to see...?

But then, a hand darted out and caught Yoshi's, and Saki let his brother pull him to a standing position. Though his face seemed terse, he let Yoshi pull an arm around his shoulders and lightly thump him in the chest. "You almost had me, little brother!"

Saki gave Yoshi a small smile. "Almost," he agreed.

Yoshi squeezed him tighter at his side, and when he grinned brightly at Saki, his brother relaxed and let out a genuine laugh of his own. It was hard not to smile at Yoshi, even for him.

"Remember," said Yoshi as they walked off, his arm still on Saki's shoulders. "Everything you know, I have taught you. But I have not taught you everything I know."

* * *

April thought about what she'd witnessed all the way to Osaka, but when she and Shen arrived in the bustling city, it fell away from her mind. This place was crazy, with exciting shopping centers and huge, brightly colored billboards that rivaled even New York's.

They sped through the city, stopping at stands where they bought silly trinkets, laughing as they shoveled different kinds of foods into their mouths, weaving in and out of crowds in a rush for no real reason, except that they were excited and wanted to run.

"Look!" April pointed, and Shen giggled.

"Yes, it is the canal!" She said, pointing out the twisting body of water that went through Osaka, and together they paid for passage on a boat that took them on a winding path in and out of the bustling shopping centers and tourist spots. They even stopped at a shop and bought – of all things – a polaroid camera.

"Smile!" Shen snapped a picture, delighted when it came out and developed. "This is so neat!"

Before they left, the two girls stopped at a store and bought an entire bag of rice cakes, treats and pastries, as well as hot drinks for when they emerged into the cool autumn winds. As they moved to return to where Shen had parked the car, April noticed a group of shabbily clothed children, clustered near a street corner.

Shen noticed her stare and sighed sadly. "There is a shelter for the homeless nearby, but they are often overrun. Sometimes, the children come out this way."

April's heart sank, taking in the dirty little faces of the children. She saw homeless people all the time in New York City, and she had done many events with her father and school to help them. Still, she rarely saw children so young as this. The day had grown quite cold, as well, and many of them were poorly dressed for the weather.

Hoisting her bag of newly bought treats, April hurried to the children. The eldest, no more than seven or eight, turned to eye her suspiciously. His sharp eyes scanned her face as she stooped in front of him and pulled out a rice cake. The smaller children gathered, eyes wide. "Do you like these?" April asked, before extending the bag to the little boy. He took it cautiously, inspecting its contents. Color returned to his cheeks just at the sight of the food, and he quickly nodded. Shen arrived and translated for April.

"My name is April," she said. "What's yours?"

The little boy hurriedly dispensed the foods, giving the smallest children some first. Only when they'd all eaten did he take a small package for himself.

"Tora," he answered.

"Hi Tora," April smiled.

"We do not have any money," he said in Japanese, and April shook her head.

"It's okay," she said. "One day, you'll grow up big and strong, and you can give someone a rice cake for me, okay?" At her translated words, Tora smiled timidly. When his eyes flickered to April's purple scarf, she pulled it off and leaned forward, wrapping it securely around his bare neck.

"There," she said. "So handsome."

Her heart lifted when his smile grew and he nuzzled in to the fabric. " _Domo_ ," he said very softly.

* * *

 _Ding Ding._

April jerked, startled out of her doze, but when she turned to the front door of Iida-san's shop, it was only the old woman herself and not a customer. The weather outside was atrocious; it had been pouring rain for the last three days, and even though it was mid-afternoon, the sky was dark grey and the only illumination came from the occasional lightning strike in the distance, which boomed off the mountains in thunder that sounded unlike anything April had ever heard before.

Iida-san finally gave up on getting any business for the day and sent her home, completely unphased by the idea of April walking all the way back to Shen's in the freezing rain. With a heavy sigh, April shouldered her small purse and left the shop.

Teeth chattering, April hurried down the street, narrowly avoiding getting run down by cars racing down the curving streets far faster than common sense dictated, in April's personal opinion. _Just keep going, you'll be warm and cozy in the house soon!_

Unfortunately, fate had other ideas.

Soaked to the bone, April stood in front of Shen's house for nearly ten minutes, trying to find her house keys. It would be hours before Shen returned home from the university, and here she was, standing in front of the door, drenched like a drowned cat.

"April?"

She whirled in her spot, eyes squinting through the rain to see a familiar truck pull up in front of Shen's home. Saki rolled down the window, his brows furrowed with concern. "Are you alright?"

Fighting off a bad case of the shivers ( _Gee, I bet I look awesome, right now)_ April stepped closer to the truck and tried to smile. "Yeah, just got locked out. Shen is still at school."

Saki immediately reached forward, opening the door for her. "Get in."

"Are you sure?" April danced to keep warm. "I'll get your truck all wet."

"It will make it," he said dryly, before gesturing her in again, and this time April accepted his offer and slid inside. When Saki turned up the heat and closed all the windows, she reveled in the warmth, her arms tight around her torso. "I can take you to my home until Shen returns," he offered, and April could only nod before he was already off.

As they journeyed further up the mountain, she realized why he drove the type of vehicle that he did. One of the smaller, more economical vehicles she'd seen around town would never make it up the muddy roads that climbed high into the sky, and by the time they pulled through the gates outlining the Hamato estate, she felt as if she'd left the world she'd known behind.

Even in the dismal rain, the property was beautiful. One large home, with other smaller, no less elaborate homes around it. A temple and several tall pillars decorated the area, as well as a magnificent garden in the distance, complete with a small bridge that crossed a turbulent stream. Saki stopped the truck close to the front door and together, they hurried up the steps and out of the rain.

April kicked off her shoes outside, to avoid tracking in mud, and Saki did the same before leading her inside. Warmth enveloped her as soon as she was indoors, and April closed her eyes, hoping that all of her shivering would go away eventually.

She carefully kept on the rug, not wanting to tread on the beautiful hardwood floors of the Hamato home. She was still dripping wet, after all.

"Stay here," Saki said with a light touch on her arm. "I will get you a towel and some different clothes." And he did, returning about ten minutes later with a fluffy yellow towel, which he wrapped around her trembling shoulders. Once her feet were try, April tip-toed with Saki to a long corridor, until he stopped at a sliding door and led her into a bedroom.

"Is this yours?" she asked, her eyes wide and curious as she took in the sights.

"Yes," he said. "You can change in here. No one will bother you." He gestured to a pile of neatly folded clothes. "I will be just down the hall. You can come out when you are ready." April nodded and gave him a grateful smile, which he returned before he disappeared.

After slipping out of her clothes, April made her best effort to dry herself off, including many unsuccessful attempts to do something with her wet hair. As she did so, she took her time looking around the room. It was neat, and relatively nondescript. But then again, what had she expected? This was Saki, after all.

The few decorations were mostly Japanese accents, with one ancient-looking sword over his low, neatly made bed. A table next to his bed had a lamp and a clock, but there was nothing else in the room that really looked like it belonged to a teenage boy. Satisfied with her look, April picked up the clothes he'd brought her.

Honestly, Saki was much bigger than April, so she was relieved he didn't try to give her any of his Japanese clothes, almost all of which tied in the front and would have been way too low-necked for her. Instead, he'd given her a Western style shirt, with buttons in the front and long sleeves, light blue in color.

He'd also given her a pair of shorts, which would almost certainly reach past her knees, and when she pulled them both on and caught herself in a mirror, she nearly laughed outloud. She looked like a little kid playing dress-up in her dad's clothes (which she herself had done plenty of times as a kid.)

She ran her fingers through her hair to detangle it, but she had nothing to tie it back with, so she left it down. After more careful inspection, she tread softly out of the room, praying not to meet anyone else. Like Saki and Yoshi's formidable father, Hamato Yuuta.

Turning into the doorway he'd indicated to her earlier, April peered around the corner until she saw him. The image in front of her made her heart flutter curiously.

Saki sat on a low, elegant couch, in what appeared to be a sitting room. His feet were propped up on a low stool, legs extended, and in his lap was a book, with a piece of paper on one side. His dark eyes flickered back and forth between the book and the paper, and he occasionally wrote something on it before reading more. April let herself watch him for a moment, as he hadn't noticed her, before she cleared her throat and he looked up.

His thoughtful look gave way to a smile, and April flushed.

"So you and I definitely need to start trading clothes," she joked lightly, gesturing to the oversized shirt. "Because it would obviously work out really well."

"Of course," he said, gesturing with the two fingers holding a pencil. "You could wear my shirts as dresses and I could wear your dresses as shirts." April giggled, even as she folded her arms over her chest self-consciously.

"Am I bothering you?" she asked, gesturing to his work. He shook his head, shifting his body aside a little to allow her a place next to him. When April moved to join him, she paused and switched sides.

"I didn't realize you were left-handed," she noted with a nod. He always fought equally well with both hands, but she supposed now was the first time she'd seen him write something.

"I am," he said, twirling his pencil. "I was always bumping in to Yoshi while we learned to write as children. Very inconvenient." April settled herself a respectable distance from him, one leg folded underneath her, but she couldn't help but peer curiously at his book.

"It is an assignment for my father," he said, showing her the book and paper. "A book report."

He was doing homework. The idea made April grin, and she edged a little closer to peer at his handwriting. She pointed at the top. "Is that your name? _Sa-ki_?" She'd tried to study up on her Japanese in her spare time at work, using an old textbook of Shen's.

He nodded, his lips quirking at a smile. "Can you write your name?"

April glanced up at his face and smiled proudly. "I can, actually."

"Show me," he said, ticking the pencil in her direction. April squinted at him before accepting the pencil, and before she could even think about what she was doing, she scooted much closer to him so she could reach the paper balanced on the book. The warmth of his nearness chased away the last of her shivers. Carefully, she wrote out the syllables for her name.

"A – pa – ru," she said outloud, and when she was done, she looked to him for approval.

"That is very good," he said, but he was trying to disguise a look of amusement, and he added after a moment. "Where did you learn that?"

"From a textbook," she told him, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Ah," he said. "That is your mistake." At April's look of confusion, Saki shifted a little to allow her to see a blank corner of the paper. He pointed with the pencil at what she'd written.

"There are three types of written word for Japanese. Hiragana, katakana and kanji," he explained in low, gentle tones, as April looked on eagerly. "Kanji is the set of complicated symbols you often see, and to put it simply, one character is often an entire word. Hiragana and katakana, on the other hand, use syllables." He pointed with the tip of the pencil to her name.

"Hiragana is used for Japanese words, while katakana is used for any _foreign_ words," he tapped her name with the pencil. "Your name is not Japanese, and so you would not write it with hiragana, but katakana instead." As April leaned closer, her cheek nearly brushing his shoulder, he re-wrote her name correctly.

"Ooooh," April smiled, a red flush in her cheeks. "I see." And then, with a determined huff, she took back the pencil and carefully practiced what he had shown her, stopping only when he paused to show her the proper stroke order for a particular character. When she managed it, she turned her face towards his with a brilliant smile.

"There! I did it," she beamed.

Saki's dark eyes watched her carefully, and when their gazes locked, April realized belated just how close they were. There was nearly no part of her side that was not pressed against his, and her damp hair was near enough to his shoulder to sit against it. Her smile melted away, replaced by a sort of breathlessness that seized her heart and made her hyper-aware of every inch of her body.

And not just hers, but his as well. Saki was unfairly attractive, and the closeness of his body to hers did nothing to deter that fact. His hair was shorter and neater than Yoshi's, and it was hard not to study the angles of his face, sharp and clear. Even his hands, large and nimble, drew April's admiration when he had been writing, though now she couldn't make herself look away from his face for anything in the world.

She expected him to move away, but he didn't. Silence fell between them for a moment.

"I should..." April started, fighting to make sense of her words. "I should leave you alone so you can study."

Saki glanced down at the pencil, and he slowly pulled it from her fingers, though their hands remained close. He lifted his eyes to hers once more.

"I'd rather you didn't," he said.

April felt her eyes widen, but no amount of internal screaming could make her move away from him. Their fingers brushed together on top of the paper.

"Saki!"

A door closed somewhere else in the house, and April and Saki barely managed to jump apart when Yoshi entered, looking distressed. He halted to a stop in the sitting room, his eyes darting between the two for a moment of unveiled suspicion before he simply shook his head.

"Saki, Father needs us."

Suddenly alert at her side, Saki straightened and set aside his book. " _Nani ga okita no_?" But Yoshi simply shook his head, with a meaningful look at April, and Saki turned to face her. "I will be right back. Stay here." April sat up, her mouth open to speak, but the two brothers disappeared down the hallway before she had the chance.

After a few seconds hesitation, April moved up off the couch and sneaked down the hallway they'd left through. Because, after all, she _was_ April O'Neil. Leaving well enough alone was just not in her nature. Bare feet moved quietly down the corridor until she spotted Yoshi and Saki duck into a brightly-lit room, and once they were inside and the door was closed, April crept closer and crouched at the sliding door.

Through the thin crack in the door jam, she watched as the two teens took kneeling positions at the front of a room crowded with ninja, their father at the front, looking particularly stoic. Once they were seated, he spoke gruffly and quickly, his words far too fast for April's limited understanding of Japanese. The atmosphere in the room, however, was easy enough to understand.

Yoshi and Saki glanced at each other only once, and it was a look of stern understanding.

" _Oroku Nagi watashitachi no ichizoku o hakai shiyou_!" said Hamato Yuuta, and April barely stifled a gasp. They were talking about Oroku Nagi. What had he done? The eldest Hamato repeated the same words several times, and his clan responded with a firm cry in unison, an affirmation.

Before they could leave the room, April hurried back to Saki's bedroom, where her clothes were now mostly dry. She changed out of Saki's clothes and into her own, and by the time she came back down the corridor, she spotted through a window Shen getting out of her car. April quickly found the front door and stepped out before Shen even got up the steps.

"There you are!" Shen said, frowning. "I was so worried, I came home and you were not there! My neighbor said he saw Saki pick you up."

"Yeah," April pushed back her damp hair. "I just needed a place to stay. Lost my key." She paused. "Saki is, uh... meeting with his dad, let me leave him a note." So she hurried back to the book and paper, and in the corner, she wrote:

 _Saki -_

 _Shen came and picked me up. Thank you for your help! See you soon._

 _\- April_

Then she left, without seeing Saki again. When she was in the car with Shen and almost all the way back to her house, April finally asked.

"Shen," she chanced a look up at her friend. "What does _shi no kyoi_ mean?" The repeated words had burned into her memory, Hamato Yuuta's grave face ever present in her mind.

Shen raised a brow at her from the driver's side of her car. They pulled up to the house, and she put the car in park before she answered, her hands working off her seatbelt.

"It means," she said, "...a threat of death."

* * *

Author's Note: This turned out so much longer than I intended. But maybe it will make up for my long (by my standards) lapse. Yay!


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! You guys are fantastic. I'm loving the responses... especially the people who are worried about April.

You should be.

On that ominous note, let's continue.

Oh, and my (99% fandom) tumblr is petthekat89. Feel free to check it out and follow. I'm not a glutton for followers or anything, but sometimes I post about my fics, and there's some GREAT art on there.

* * *

The rain kept most everyone indoors for the next few days, and even Iida-san let April off the hook for a few shifts at the laundry shop. While this proved effective at keeping from encountering Saki, it also left her an unbearable amount of time to think.

Saki was supposed to be in love with Tang Shen.

That was the _whole thing._ It was why he had attacked Master Splinter, why he had taken Karai as his own, why he had done almost every single thing that had affected the turtles. So why did Saki give Shen only polite glances at best, paying her no special attention at all?

And then the way he looked at April – Well, that was something else altogether, and April made every effort to squash it from her mind. Not because it had been unpleasant... but, well.

Maybe he was using April to get close to Shen. It seemed like the type of thing a solitary teenager like Saki might do, particularly one who was so sensitive and fearful of rejection (as she was absolutely certain he was). Still, he never asked about Shen. He never sought her out or went out of his way for her at all, not like he did for April.

Eugh. This was all giving April a monumental headache.

However, overanalyzing Saki's intentions for hours upon hours was at least useful it one respect, as it most certainly kept her from evaluating any feelings of her own.

So she kept at it. As Renet had (incorrectly) put it, you miss ever goal you never take... right?

* * *

When the day finally dawned clear and sunny, April took her first chance to walk the streets of town in the crisp, clean mountain air, her face turned towards the warm sky and her skin drinking in the daylight with glee. It was only after she'd been walking for about fifteen minutes that she heard the strumming of a guitar. Curious, she rounded a corner and spotted the front porch of a two-story shop, one that dealt in woodworkings.

Seated in a chair near the shop's front door, guitar in his lap, was Yoshi.

April couldn't resist a smile. Here was Master Splinter, right in front of her, legs outstretched on another chair and his hands poised on acoustic guitar strings. His eyes were low, focused on each individual finger as he plucked the strings one at a time. _Ting. Ting. Ting._

"I didn't know you played the guitar," April leaned on the railing of the porch area, her grin broadening when Yoshi glanced up and met her with a warm smile.

"I am a man of many talents," he said with a chuckle. "You may join me, if you like."

Deciding she had nowhere else to be, April ascended the few steps and took a seat in another chair. "What is this shop?" she asked. "Do they know you're just sitting out here, scaring off customers?" Yoshi made a face at her teasing.

"My father owns this shop," he said, tilting back his head to look up and over at the establishment's sign. "This and four others in town." He shifted his legs and strummed the guitar. "It is how we maintain our wealth without actually doing anything," he added loftily, making April giggle.

"I think I am going to write Shen a song," he told her with abrupt enthusiasm, plucking the guitar strings again as he fixed her with a boyish grin. "Perhaps I should wait until she is out shopping in the market, and then I will burst out of a bush and sing to her in front of everyone."

"Shen would hate that," April told him pointedly.

"I know," he said, unperturbed. When he turned his attention back to his guitar, April studied him thoughtfully. Though she wasn't sure whether saying anything was the best option, she gathered what minute amount of subtelty she had and leaned forward.

"Yoshi, you do know that acting foolish isn't the way to get Shen to go out with you, right?"

As April watched, Yoshi's hands paused on the guitar and his eyes, lowered to his instrument, flickered thoughtfully. For a long moment, April thought she had insulted him, and she retreated back further in her chair, deliberating on whether or not to leave. At last, Yoshi relaxed back into his chair and glanced at her. When she looked up to his face, there was something else there. Something she hadn't seen since her arrival in Japan, but it was familiar, still.

"Saki tells me you had a ninjutsu master in New York," he said suddenly. "Tell me, April. What sort of things did he teach you?"

Surprised by the question, April paused, her hands drawing in to her lap and lacing there. "Well," she said slowly, her thoughts turning gradually back to her many lessons with Master Splinter. "He taught me lots of things." And yet all the things that came to her mind were not about fighting, defense or martial arts at all. It was other things, other words of wisdom, instructions and advice.

"He said ... anger clouds the mind," April turned her pensieve gaze to the street, but she felt Yoshi's eyes on her all the while. "And there must be balance in the body and soul. He talked about how living the life of a ninja means always being in the shadows... and he taught me that a true ninja is never defenseless; that a ninja's best weapon may not be a blade or staff," she paused then, meeting Yoshi's gaze. "... but a disguise."

In that moment, she felt Master Splinter present, sitting right across from her, embedded in the body of a seemingly silly teenager. Yoshi had leaned forward as she spoke, but now he reclined slowly, his eyes still on her.

"Smart man," he murmured, strumming on the guitar.

After several seconds of silence, Yoshi spoke up again. "I do not want to trap her," he said. April looked to him again, and she realized belatedly that he was answering her earlier question.

He continued, "And that is exactly what she is afraid of."

Her heart softened towards him, at the quiet, forlorn tone of his voice. Around them, the wind kicked up and sent others scurrying indoors, but April and Yoshi kept to their spot.

"Why don't you just consider what she wants, then? To leave the city?" implored April. "She cares about you, Yoshi. And I know you love her more than anything else in the world."

Yoshi smirked just a bit at his guitar. "And how do you know that?" he inquired slyly.

A flush jumped up April's neck, and she shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just, uh. Really good at reading people, that's all," she stuttered, clearing her throat pointedly. Yoshi seemed to accept this, though his expression never lose the bemusement from before.

"I do love Shen," he said after a few moments. "I just want her to be happy."

"And you don't think you'll make her happy?"

"Not here."

"Then _why_ -"

Yoshi interrupted, his hands twitching on the guitar strings. "I cannot leave my family. I cannot abandon my clan," he said sharply, though he quickly relented and relaxed once more. "I am the eldest son of Hamato Yuuta, a man who has given his all for us all. He has dedicated his very existence to the good of our family. I would be an unworthy son to do anything less."

Deflated, April leaned on the arm of her chair, her chin in her hand.

"Even for Shen?" she asked softly.

Yoshi swept his fingers over the guitar and it gave a lyrical hum; the musical tones drifted into the air and lingered. He didn't answer, but the conflict was clear in his eyes, and April felt guilty at having badgered him to this point. Just when she was getting ready to make an apology and leave, Yoshi looked up to her with raised brows.

"Why all of these questions about Shen and myself, hm? What about you and Saki?"

April blinked at the unexpected question, and thoughts of that rainy day at the Hamato estate came crashing back to the forefront of her mind. She laughed nervously, waving a hand in what she hoped was a dismissive, casual manner. "There's nothing going on with me and Saki."

This time, Yoshi's look of wry amusement was unmistakeable.

"If that is what you believe," he said, plucking at the strings one by one. _Ting Ting Ting_. "...then you are not nearly as good at reading people as you think."

* * *

When April returned to work, she wondered if Saki might cease their old routine of meeting up in the afternoons. It was good that she had to be there no matter what, and that it was up to him to show up. It left her without the oppurtunity to make a bad decision.

And yet, come the sunny afternoon, there he was. Silent when he approached, startling April's sensitive psyche when his powerful presence neared.

"Hi," she said as soon as he was close enough, unable to keep a hint of shyness out of her tone.

"Hello," he said, and her racing heart eased when he offered her a gentle smile. "You worried me when you left the other day. I did not expect you to be gone when I returned to the sitting room."

April bit her lip, her unsteady fingers grappling with a clothes pin. "Sorry," she said sincerely. "I didn't mean to run out on you. I was just -"

" - afraid you would be caught eavesdropping?"

Her eyes widened, and damn, she wished she could just lie and be slick like the people in the movies. Instead, every single mortification read on her pale freckled face, like a Las Vegas strip sign saying GUILTY.

"Eavesdropping," Saki continued easily. "... on a conversation you cannot even understand."

April wasn't sure, but she could swear he almost sounded amused. It was hard to tell with him, though, and so she simply shrugged both shoulders and said as haughtily as she could manage, "I can understand some."

"Oh? And what did you gather from your stealth mission?"

Annoyed, April settled a hand on her hip. "I – I understood that … um, well. Oroku Nagi."

Saki folded his arms, unimpressed. He gestured for her to continue, and April huffed. "Okay, fine. I got that Oroku Nagi had done something, and I heard the word that means threat." Seeing Saki roll his eyes let her know that, at the very least, he wasn't angry with her. "How did you even know?"

"You are not half as light-footed as you think," he said dryly.

When April made a face and turned her back to him, he straightened from the fence and approached her with a soft touch to her arm. The gentleness of it surprised her, and she looked up at his face, high above hers. "I'm sorry," she said, once more sincere in her apology. "I just – I've gotten used to being paranoid about everything and I saw how panicked Yoshi was. I was afraid of what's going on."

"You should not be afraid," he told her, dropping his hand but remaining close. "Oroku Nagi thinks he gives threat, but he is little more than a tiny lizard who thinks himself a dragon." His dismissal of Oroku Nagi hardly made April feel better, but there was no point in arguing with him. After all, this was one part of the history that she was unfamiliar with.

"If you say so," she said, trying to sound compliant but not quite succeeding, judging from the way Saki reached forward and carefully took the clothes pin from her hands.

"What sort of people did you spend time with in New York that made you so weary of everything?" he asked, eyeing her in a way that made April squirm.

"Just... some guys." She paused and then added truthfully, "Guys who got into a _lot_ of trouble."

"You do not have to worry about trouble here," Saki said, helping her secure the sheet with the pin before he turned back to her, his expression imploring. "You are safe. Oroku Nagi and his pack of poorly-trained imbeciles are not going to attack anyone."

April cocked her head at him, and now it was her turn to fold her arms. "And what if they do?"

Saki lifted his chin, and the simple gesture broadened his already formidable musculature. "Then they will regret it."

* * *

"Hey Shen," murmured April from her side of the bed. It was night, and they had both just climbed into bed. When her friend hummed thoughtfully in response, April tucked further into her pillow.

"Do you guys celebrate Christmas around here?" The date was December 4th, nearly three months after her arrival.

"Mm, no," Shen pressed her cheek against her pillow and sleepily rubbed at her face. "Most of the people in our town are Buddhist, and my parents always worshipped at the Shinto shrines. Few of them celebrate Christian holidays."

"Oh," April fought a disappointed frown.

Shen woke a little at April's sad expression and reached out, grasping her hand. "But we can still do something if you want," she offered with a sleepy smile, and April's frown faded away.

"It's okay," she said with a soft laugh. "I'm in a different country. Can't expect things to be exactly like they are at home. It's not a big deal." She curled Shen into a hug before they returned to their sides of the bed, and after a little while of fighting off homesickness, April finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

The next week passed uneventfully, with April working and Shen going to school. Winter had officially settled in the mountains, but unlike New York, snowfall was sparse. April bought herself a nice new coat, deep green in color and "trendy" for the time period, though she strayed from the other hip items of 1991 ("These are in fashion!" Yoshi defended against April's laughter, pointing to a pair of parachute pants he'd just bought. "I saw American kids wearing them in Osaka!")

One day, though, was a bit strange.

While April was walking to grab some lunch on her break from work, her movements came to abrupt halt when a series of voices burst into her mind, unbidden.

" _Keiji!"_

 _Children's laughter, the pounding of sandal-covered feet against the crunch and bristle of the forest floor. A flash of brilliant sunlight._

 _The voices changed. Deeper now, adult. The sounds of the forest lingered._

" _... boy or girl?"_

" _Boy. We named him Nagi."_

" _Oroku Nagi," repeated the first voice languidly. "Heir to the great Foot clan."_

" _Yes," said the first. "But only after me."_

* * *

April spent the better part of the day fighting off trembles, but the voices lingered in her mind until bed, accompanied only by vague blurs, no distinct scenes. And yet they still managed to leave powerful imprints on her heart, prompting her to yank off the strange key from around her neck so she could throw it away.

In the end, she put it back on and went about her business.

* * *

It was a week later when Tang Shen took her on a train out of town with promises of a surprise. April giggled at her friend, who was so excited to take her to Osaka for some reason. The air outside was blistering cold, and some hints of snow had begun to fall, but it was no where near the conditions hitting New York this time of year.

The train pulled into Osaka and the two girls ventured in to the city as they had before, but when they came to the front of a shopping district, Shen whirled on April suddenly and clapped a gloved hand over her eyes. "Whoa!" April stumbled.

"Close your eyes!" Shen commanded gleefully. "It is almost time for your surprise!"

She then led her down the streets, which April could feel crowded with people. In the distance, she thought she heard music, but it was hard to tell over the noises of people moving about. After several unsteady paces, one of which nearly sent her falling into a pole, Shen took mercy on her at last and stopped.

"Keep your eyes shut," she told her, removing her hand and positioning April on what felt like a sidewalk. She did as she was told, squeezing her eyes shut tight, and now she was certain she could hear music.

"So I know I told you that my town does not celebrate Christmas," Shen began, to April's right. "But _Osaka_ is quite a different story..."

Her heart fluttering, April opened her eyes and beheld in front of a spectacle of lights and decorations, shaded in every color of the rainbow, the likes of which she had never seen, even in New York.

"This is called The Festival of Light," said Shen softly at her shoulder, as April inhaled cold air tight in her chest, her lips parted in wonder. "It is based on many Christmas traditions, and there is a large group of Catholics here in Osaka that do much for its cause."

Tears filled April's eyes, her mind barely able to process the scores and scores of rich lights, many of which wound between the branches of trees as they lined the streets. Others formed archways and towering signs, brilliant in their shape and form, so carefully created. Even the buildings were alight, and while some of the décor was more random than traditional, others held Christmas symbols April knew well: candy canes, stars, snowmen and snowflakes.

And then, in the center of it all, towering high above all else was a magnificent Christmas tree of lights, in the shape of a pine, with massive snowflakes made of burning colors all around it. Illuminated icicles hung from wires high above the streets, dropping at all lengths and creating a magnificent version of the wintery sky April knew from home. The music April had heard was coming from a stage nearby, where a man in a suit played beautiful holiday tunes on a grand piano.

"Shen..." April turned to her friend, her eyes shining with gratitude. But Shen just smiled and took April's shoulders, turning her in a different direction.

"And," Shen went on with a grin. "We even have two of our very own – very _large_ – elves."

She nodded in the direction of a candy shop and that was when April saw them.

Yoshi and Saki, wearing Western clothing and watching the girls from several feet away, each looking so alarmingly handsome that many a female passerby gave them appreciative stares and giggles. April's first instinct was to laugh outloud, happiness filling her heart as she and Shen approached the pair.

"Happy Christmas, April," said Yoshi with a brilliant smile.

"Thank you," she managed, fighting back tears as she glanced to Saki, who looked at her with such affection that she felt warmth spread through her chest, tingling pleasantly at the tips of her fingers. "This means a lot to me," she finished quietly, her words trembling.

"Then let us all enjoy it," Shen said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing her.

* * *

The festival was enormous, with performances and vendors and nearly everything April could think of. There was a snowman section, where someone with fake snow had set up an area to let children build their own creations. Of course, April and Shen felt they needed to do the same, so they paid their money and then jumped in, quickly creating the tallest, most ridiculous creatures they could.

The foursome took the vendors next, and Yoshi was more than happy to fill up bags with candy and cookies. Saki laughed at him when he swallowed a sour candy whole, making him gag dramatically, which of course meant Yoshi had to retaliate by leaping on Saki's back and nearly sending them both off into the canal.

"Is this supposed to be a person?" asked Saki a little later, examining a cookie skeptically.

"Of course!" April laughed. "It's Santa Claus!"

Saki raised a brow. "Who?"

* * *

"Happy Christmas!" April and Shen shouted in unison, from either side of a Japanese Santa's lap, as a photographer snapped a polaroid photo.

" _Creepy_ ," Yoshi said flatly from behind the camera, and Saki nodded earnestly in agreement.

* * *

"Oh, oh, oh!"

Shen remembered her bulky polaroid after that, and she snapped as many pictures as she could, even turning it around to snap a face shot of her and Yoshi, who happily joined her in any and all of her fun. Then she asked a stranger to take a photo of all of them.

The four teens gathered in front of the tall Christmas tree of lights, with Shen and April in the middle, Saki and Yoshi at their sides. April felt Saki's warmth at her side and it brought her back to that day in his home, and this time, she welcomed the thought. It seemed pleasant and bubbly in her memory now, and having him so close at her side, his tall body turned towards hers, it made her feel strangely delighted. _Flash._ Shen accepted her camera back from the stranger and when the photo developed, she proudly told the others it was her favorite photo of the evening.

When Yoshi found an outdoor ice-skating rink some time later, he talked Shen into trying it.

"I have never done it either!" he said when she protested, and he slipped on his skates. "Come on, Saki!"

Sighing – but unable to hide his amusement – Saki joined Yoshi on the ice, and even though neither of them had done it before, they both mastered the simple motions necessary to move around the ice very quickly. April zipped on by, pleased she was good in something that they were new to.

"My friend Casey taught me," she said, grinning and spinning in a circle. Saki skated around her, slower but no less skilled.

"Mm, I bet I could still beat you," he teased.

"Ah! In what?" April put her hands on her hips, trying to look as cool and confident as possible. Saki circled her, and his chuckle brought heat to her cheeks.

"Most everything, I imagine," he replied, and just behind him, lights flashed around the rink as the festival went on, twinkling music reaching them still. April skated closer and put a hand to the front of his coat, their skates sliding with soft crackling noises beneath them. She could hear Yoshi and Shen laughing in the distance.

"I'm sure there are some things I could win at," she said quietly, and even though she wasn't sure where these words were coming from, how she could look him in the eyes and speak them, low and even as she did, there was no denying the thrill that accompanied them.

They weren't the only ones on the rink, but it certainly felt that way. Their skating slowed, and Saki tilted his head down a bit closer to hers.

"You are probably right," he murmured.

Their closeness remained for a moment, before the sound of laughter grew louder and they both turned. Yoshi had been teasing Shen about sticking close to the wall, and now, when she would not brave going any further out on to the ice, he had scooped her up into his arms.

"Yoshi!" Shen exclaimed, laughing even as she shrieked with terror. "You are going to drop us both to the ice!"

"No," he smiled at her in his arms, strong and steady even as he glided slowly on the ice, his outline fuzzy against the many lights lingering behind him. "I will never let you fall."

Shen relaxed, her expression relaxing into a contented smile. April glanced at Saki, looking for any traces of envy or bitterness, but she only caught him just as he looked down at her again, and the only emotion she saw there was the same devoted tenderess as before.

* * *

They left the rink and wandered a bit more, and April excitedly moved from one attraction to the next. Once, she hopped up on the wide rim of a fountain running clear, cold water, and as she tip-toed along its edge, she came to a stop and held out her arms.

Saki stood there, waiting, and he lifted her from the ledge and brought her gently to the ground again, a smile passing between them at their nearness.

It was nearly time to leave when April's ears picked up on the familiar tune. The words were strange to her, but the melody was unmistakeable. Moving away from the others, April walked, mesmerized until she found the grand piano again.

The man continued to play, but now a woman sang in Japanese at his side. Silent Night.

April closed her eyes and curled her arms over her torso, a longing for home rolling over her in overwhelming waves of nostalgia. She had never spent a Christmas without her father, and so often they had listened to this very song, singing along or simply enjoying its beauty.

Tears threatened again, and this time, their source came from a sadness April had fought to keep at bay since her arrival. Then, when the second verse of the song started, April felt someone at her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Shen, her smile reassuring as she laid a hand on April's arm.

Yoshi appeared at Shen's side, his eyes turned to her, his expression gentle.

And then, at April's left, Saki stepped forward, and she felt the nearness of her friends chase away the sadness. Shen intertwined in arm with hers and turned to watch the pianist, as had many others in the crowd, all hypnotized by the beautiful tone as they were.

Something pressed into April's hand and she glanced down to see a red and white striped candy cane, moved from Saki's fingers to hers, prompting her to look up at him with a swell of affection that surprised her with its intensity. Instead of letting the candy cane drop into her hand, she caught his fingers with hers and laced them.

Saki's lips lifted at a smile, and he squeezed her hand just once before turning to look up at the performers with everyone else. The four of them stood very close together during the song, with Yoshi's arm around Shen's shoulders connecting them from end to end, in a way that made April feel far less alone than she had in quite a while.

* * *

The festival had lifted April's spirits considerably, so much so that even a few days after it ended, she still walked with a hop in her step and a light in her heart.

The afternoon's work ended early for April, as business had been slow at Iida-san's, so she ambled out of the store and took her time going back to Shen's. As she traveled back, her eyes aimlessly wandering the streets, she spotted up ahead one of the Shinto shrines housed in town.

It was the largest and most elaborate by far, and she knew from what Saki had told her that it was where his family often went to worship. Some shrines, she had discovered, were quite small and simple, but this place had a great grand set of steps leading up to an elegant set of double doors, ones that led inside a place April had never been, but could easily imagine as beautiful and intricate as the outside. It was colored in reds, golds and blacks, and everthing from the stair-rails to the doorknobs were artfully painted. April smiled as she approached it, letting herself appreciate its aesthetic beauty as she neared.

Then something else caught her eye.

Stopped in her tracks several feet away, April tilted her head and looked to the back of the shrine. Had she imagined it? No, her keen senses and intuition told her that she had not, and so she cautiously stepped forward, eyes on the back of the shrine. There it was again, and this time, she ducked into the bushes to avoid being seen.

After a moment or two, a skulking figure emerged from the back of the shrine, shrouded in dark clothing and wearing a shifty gaze. April straightened a little to see, and her heart hammered in her chest. It was a Foot Clan guy, one of Oroku Nagi's. He was leaving the back of the shrine... with some kind of box under his arms. He quickly jumped into the back of a waiting truck, and before April could react, he was gone.

Her brows furrowed, April stepped out uncertainly. What had happened? Did he steal something?

Whatever it was, it couldn't have been good, and April had only just resolved to tell Shen about it when four very nice cars pulled up the street, the doors opening to reveal a large group of people wearing familiar scarlet clothing. April's eyes widened at the sight of Hamato Yuuta, Yoshi and Saki's father, as he emerged from the vehicle wearing his usual stern expression.

Behind him, another older man came, and nearly a dozen others, including young Saki and Yoshi, who walked just behind their father and uncle. It was clear they were going to the shrine, and Hamato Yuuta stood far out in front, at a position of respect.

Suddenly, a feeling of fear and panic seized April, and before she could think of what she was doing, she rushed forward and skidded to a stop in front of Hamato Yuuta, her hands raised frantically.

"No, wait! Don't go in there!"

The group came to an abrupt stop, their eyes wide, aghast at her disrespect. Several steps behind Hamato Yuuta, Yoshi and Saki stared, wearing matching expressions of dismay. " _Nani?_ " growled Yuuta, his aged face twisting into a displeased snarl.

"Please," April begged, trying not to cower under the enraged faces of the Hamato elders. "I'm sorry, I know -"

"April," Saki stepped forward, taking her arm and trying to pull her aside with nervous glances in his father's direction. "What are you doing?"

"Please!" April tried to pull her arm away. "I don't think you should go in there! I just saw something weird, I think it may be dangerous!"

"Get this girl out of my way," Hamato Yuuta growled in sharp English, turning a burning look to Saki, who hooked an arm around April's waist and pulled her away when she refused to come quietly.

"No, just – Don't go in there, please! I just saw –" she turned to Saki, her eyes pleading. "I just saw a Foot Clan guy go in there, Saki!"

"Anyone is allowed to worship," Saki hissed quietly. "You cannot disrespect our father because you saw someone enter a shrine, April."

"No, you don't understand, he was doing something bad!"

One of the Hamato elders stepped forward, his sneer heavy in April's direction. "This is ridiculous," he grunted. "Get that stupid American girl out of here, Saki, before you are the one punished!" April's anxiety increased tenfold, she could _feel_ the danger, practically see it seeping from the shrine, but Saki's arms were insistent and he pulled her several feet away as the Hamato elder marched out ahead of Hamato Yuuta and thundered up the steps.

He reached for the door handle and yanked it open.

 _BOOM._

A scream ripped from April's chest as the entire front of the shrine blasted from the inside out, a fiery plume bursting into the air and unleashing a wicked torrent of scalding heat into the air, incinerating the front steps. A swift jerk to April's torso told her that Saki had grabbed her, curled her under his arms to shield her from the flame and debris, but scatters of charred wood and glass rained down on them both anyway and the fire felt so close, she was sure it had burned away the tips of her hair.

Yoshi ducked on the ground near them, arms over his head, but he was back on his feet in an instant. "Father!" he dropped down next to Hamato Yuuta, who coughed heavily but, as April slowly peeked out from Saki's arms, was mostly unharmed.

"Uncle!" someone else shouted, and April's eyes watered fearfully when she saw the battered, blackened body of the Hamato elder who had opened the door. Others gathered around, each trying to help him, while one ran to get help and call for a hospital. The street was chaos, with everyone in the city coming out to see what had made the explosion, to behold their beloved Shinto shrine embroiled in flames, ashes where the front door had been.

And as April tentatively emerged from Saki's protective grip, she realized they were all staring at her.

Yoshi. Hamato Yuuta. Their family. The pedestrians. Even Saki.

All staring directly at April, as the broken remains of the shrine collapsed in on itself with a booming crash that rang in her ears over and over and over again. Sirens sounded in the distance.

 _Not enough,_ she thought weakly, tears pouring down her cheeks. _Not nearly fast enough._


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Wow, that's a long hiatus for me. Graduate school is kicking my ass.

At least con season is over now. Time to don my human disguise once more. And before I continue any further with this story, I would like to preface it by saying that 2012 April does not always make the best decisions. And if that isn't canon, I don't know what is.

* * *

The tips of her toes pointed inwards, her posture on the hard plastic chair gawky and awkward.

April glanced up every few minutes, but there had been no change from the end of the long hallway for over two hours. Ever so often, a nurse or a doctor would pass by, but they gave no special attention to April, even as she waited against a stark white wall.

"April!"

Her head jerked up, and when she spotted Shen hurrying down the hall to her, some semblance of relief relaxed April's limbs. Shen caught her in a quick hug and checked her for injuries, but Saki had shielded her from the worst of it, and she had only a few scratches to accompany her heavy hurt.

God, the explosion had felt so close, the heat still danced on her skin.

"I'm alright," she reassured her friend, surprised at how shaky she still sounded. It had been hours she'd waited here, feeling out of place and uncertain, but determined to see this through. Shen tightened her hold on April for a moment more before she nodded.

"I am sorry I took so long to get here," she told April with a worried frown. "I was in class. I had no idea what had happened until Iida-san told me and -"

Doors swung open down the hall and April turned, her hand still clutched in Shen's. A doctor emerged, two young men flanking him, dark against the clinical white backdrop of the hospital. As April and Shen watched, Saki and Yoshi nodded solemnly at the doctor's words. They spoke for a few minutes before the brothers bowed to the doctor and moved away.

As they approached, Saki kept his eyes low and hard, while Yoshi mirrored his expression until he noticed Shen and April waiting. It was the first time April had seen him without a smile in Shen's presence, even though he attempted one when Shen stepped forward and reached out, squeezing his fingers in hers. Yoshi met her gaze and a moment of something passed between them, something April hadn't noticed before.

"Thank you for coming," said Yoshi softly, looking to April now as well. It pained her to spot tears in the glassy surface of his eyes, but he kept them at bay. "Our uncle is now at rest."

Pain lanced April's heart. So he had died. She bit her lip and dropped her head, swallowing a sob. "I'm sorry," she murmured, twisting her hands in front of her.

Yoshi nodded, taking a deep breath before he squared his shoulders and said, "It was an unfortunate thing." At this, Saki came to life at Yoshi's side, and April lips parted in disbelief at the sharp look of anger that appeared on his handsome face, quick as a flash of lightning.

" _Unfortunate_?" he echoed, looking directly at Yoshi. "Our uncle was murdered, in pursuit of the death of our father. And you call it unfortunate?"

Yoshi inhaled deeply, turning his hard gaze to the other. "Now is not the time, Saki."

"And when is the time?" growled Saki, his muscles tight. "When our entire clan is dead? Oroku Nagi -"

"We do not know it was his doing," Yoshi growled lowly. "And we will not have a discussion about here, in the hospital, as we mourn our uncle!" At April's side, she felt Shen take her hand again. Their trembling fingers laced.

Saki curled his hands into tight fists. "April saw one of his men leaving the shrine before our uncle was killed. Is that not proof enough for you?" Yoshi's gaze flickered to April, who panicked inwardly. As certain as she was of what she saw, being the sole witness now felt like a terrifying burden.

"I believe April saw the man," Yoshi turned his dark gaze to Saki once more. "But that does not mean he was acting on Nagi's orders." When Saki opened his mouth to protest earlier, Yoshi took a step towards him. " _Enough!"_

Shen and April moved back in tandem, eyes wide, as Saki's mouth clamped shut and his jaw clenched, shoulders trembling with rage. Then, without a second glance at any of them, Saki turned and brushed past them all with a heavy step.

April turned, ready to reach out to him, but Yoshi had a hand on her arm in an instant. When she looked to him, brows furrowed, he simply shook his head. "Do not try," he told her gravely, his shoulders slowly dropping. "There is no speaking to him when he is this way."

Exhausted tears filled April's eyes. "I'm sorry," she said again, turmoil flooding her with an urgency to help. "I – I should have done more, I should have been more clear. I should have stopped this from happening!" Shen's arms slipped around her shoulders, but it only made her feel more guilty. She wasn't the one who had lost a family member. She shouldn't need someone to console her guilty conscience.

Yoshi stepped close to them both, glancing up warily when nurses eyed them from across the hall. He spoke lowly. "April," he gently touched her hand. "You saved our father's life. Our uncle may have died, but without our father, our clan may have been lost." He dropped his hand away and gave her a sad smile. "So I must thank you."

"Doesn't really feel like I deserve it," she muttered miserably, glancing over her shoulder to where Saki had disappeared off to. In all the time since she had met him, he had never left her that way, without a word or a look. Based on what she knew about him, all the things she'd endured at his hand in her own time, it shouldn't have hurt so much.

But it did.

"You do," Yoshi said, more firmly than before. "And my father feels that way as well. He has sent me word that he wants you to come to our home tomorrow, so that he may thank you in person."

April glanced up slowly, her eyes wide and terrified. A private meeting with Hamato Yuuta?

That was hardly a reward.

* * *

 _Vegetables. Hands moved the knife with ease, chopping them on a board before picking them up, piece by piece. A man in his mid-twenties popped the bits into his mouth , alone and lost in thought in the kitchen of his home._

" _Keiji!"_

 _A woman appeared, her eyes narrowed and her pretty face sharp and severe. The man looked up, crunching still on his snack even as he observed her coolly. "There you are," she said harshly. "Where have you been?"_

 _He swallowed his food, turning back to the knife so he could cut more. "What business is it of yours?" he asked, unconcerned._

" _I am your wife," she snapped, pulling up the edges of her kimono to cross the threshold into the kitchen. "I searched for you for hours today. No one could tell me where you were." When her husband didn't respond, she placed her hand on the counter and lifted her chin high._

" _It is the nursemaid, isn't it? I could not find that little wretch, either. You are sleeping with her!"_

 _Keiji looked up from his slices, taking his time in picking up a piece and tossing it in his mouth. After a long moment of silence, broken up only by the crunching of food, he shrugged._

" _And?"_

 _Rage flashed across the woman's face. "You cannot disrespect me this way! I am your wife, as well as the daughter of Hijiki Matsuro! My father is a most important man!"_

 _Keiji slammed the knife to the counter with a loud bang. "And still he is below MY father! MY clan! And therefore," he advanced on her quickly, his features twisted in a snarl. "He is also below me, as are you." The woman stepped back, her defiance crumbling even as she sneered at him still._

" _You will do well to remember your place," Keiji informed her in a heated whisper. "It is no business of yours where I am or who I am with. You will mind our son Nagi and do as your told. Do you understand?"_

 _The two stared caustically, each as enraged as the other, and yet the wife finally bowed down under Keiji's menace. She turned, her lips tight, moving away from his looming presence. "You should not threaten me," she said shakily, once she was out of arm's reach. "I am pregnant."_

 _Keiji glanced at her belly, still small in its early stages, before he turned away from her with a grunt. "Then go and take care of yourself. Be of use in that way, at least."_

* * *

April shot up in the bed she shared with Tang Shen, her breathing labored and her heart pounding. Her hand clutched blindly at the key, and the shock of how she felt, all the terror of the last day made her joints ache with anxiety.

Why was she seeing these things? She contemplated throwing the key away, but just as she had before, she felt compelled to keep it. So she did.

* * *

Shen dropped her off at the Hamato estate the next day.

"Are you sure you do not want me to stay? I can skip class," she offered kindly, but April shook her head.

"It's fine. I'm safe here," she said with a smile that looked more confident than she felt. Shen left, and April trekked slowly up the steps of the elaborate home. It was such a beautiful construction, and now that the weather had seen fit to bathe them in sunny skies wrapped in chill, it looked and felt all the more wonderful to behold.

Servants let her in, and April removed her shoes before following them to a room deep within the home, a place not unlike the dojo back home in New York. When she entered, she found Hamato Yuuta seated in the center, his eyes closed and his hands folded in meditation. A genuine smile touched her. He looked so much like Master Splinter. It was so obvious how this man's influence had touched Hamato Yoshi, had shaped him into the father he would become to the turtles.

"Come," said Hamato Yuuta in English. "Sit."

Summoning her bravery, April crossed the room and assumed a kneeling position in front of the man. It was hard not to fidget in his presence. He was not an overly large man, nor was he in his youth by any means. He gave no appearance of great physical strength or skill, and yet his very presence was formidable, his face etched in lines that spoke of experience that came from more than simply age.

When he opened his eyes, April felt inundated by his aura.

There was so much to him, she felt weak under the weight of his knowledge. Her mental powers, rarely so reactive to normal people, pushed back against his strength. He seemed to sense it, as he tilted his head at her, and for a long moment, they sat in a silence that was anything but passive.

Finally, he spoke. "I would like to express my gratitude for your warning. It saved my life."

April fought not to look away, even as her hands twitched in her lap. "I wish I could have done more," she whispered, feeling certainly more ashamed than proud.

"The past does not allow us to make amends," said Hamato Yuuta, observing her with a thoughtful expression on his weathered features. "It is only the future we may change."

April almost smiled at this. The future, indeed. If only he knew.

"I am glad you're alright," she said after a pause. "I hope Yoshi and Saki are … well." She hadn't seen either of them since their time at the hospital. Yuuta kept his impossibly perfect posture, his face unchanging.

"They will persevere. They have all the resources they need to recover," he said, before adding, "if only they were wise enough to take them."

"They're young," April responded before she could stop herself, and she saw a flicker of a smile on Hamato Yuuta's face.

"Yes," he agreed. "They are." The air between the two relaxed, and Hamato Yuuta reached beside him and pick up a bag. From it, he pulled a long box, which he presented to her. "You may open it."

Looking to him curiously, April did so, and from the box she pulled a bounty of scarlet fabric. After some inspection, she realized it was the same uniform Saki and Yoshi wore, with the Hamato crest on the back, all modified for April's small form. Her lips parted in disbelief.

"Hamato-san, I..."

"You will have great influence on my family. I can see that now," said Hamato Yuuta, his dark eyes moving over her carefully. "And as you have saved my life once, I believe you will save one of us again. Besides," he narrowed his eyes at her, but the expression wasn't aggressive as much as it was speculative. "My son tells me you fight with a tessen."

"I – I do," April stuttered.

Hamato Yuuta looked away from her and closed his eyes once more, his fingers settling into the meditative positions he'd been in when she'd entered. "Fighting alone is a reckless endeavor. It is with a clan that you are victorious." April looked to his face, but his eyes were closed. Still, she felt him staring at her.

"And the Hamato clan," he went on quietly, "is always victorious."

* * *

The box tucked under her arm, April followed the servants out of the house, but she had only just reached the front doors when they opened to reveal Saki.

The two caught sight of each other and paused, and even though Saki's rage was no longer evident in his face, her sensitivity to his emotions felt the turmoil that brewed just below the surface of his calm exterior. "April," he greeted, as quiet and aloof with her as he'd been in the very beginning.

April frowned, genuine displeasure filling her at his distance.

"Hi," she said softly, taking a step forward to him. When he didn't back away, she took a chance and reached out, touching his hand. He refused to look at her, but he didn't pull his hand from hers. Instead, his fingers curled, as if he wanted to touch her but something kept him.

She set the box aside on a table and moved closer. "Saki, are you angry with me?"

He looked to her, finally, his dark eyes surprised. "With you? No," he said, and the joy she felt at that answer was more than a little unnerving, but she pushed the thought away. She'd deal with all that nonsense later, probably in the middle of the night while she ate a peanut butter sandwich, knowing her.

"I was afraid you blamed me," she said honestly, tucking her head. Fingertips appeared at her chin, lifting her gaze back up to his.

"I do not blame you," he told her, and for once, she saw his emotions play out on his face, his conflict as clear as it was vehement. "I am only trying to make sense of it. The attack, my family's reaction. It is not right and I -" He cut himself off, for the first time since April could remember, his hand limp in hers.

She stepped forward quickly, closing her other hand around his. "This is a hard time for your family. They're just dealing in different ways, that's all. There's nothing wrong with that." She paused, before boldly reaching up and touching his cheek. When his reaction was to lean in to the touch, her heart fluttered. "There's nothing wrong with feeling angry, either. It's natural."

"It is the _only_ thing that feels natural to me," he admitted, eyes closed and teeth clenched. Then his hand reached up, curling over the one resting on his cheek. He opened his eyes, and April realized belatedly how close they had gotten. "Or it was," he added in barely more than a whisper.

Some part of her heart and mind recognized it then, the slow-building wave that loomed within her. It was the type that could be spotted at a distance, gathering speed and strength and height in a way only nature was able, ready to come crashing ashore with all its devastating effects only to slip away, unmoved by the changes it had wrought.

Words bubbled from her throat, unhindered by forethought. "We should go to Osaka tomorrow," she said suddenly, and Saki opened his eyes to look at her, brows furrowed. Patting his hand with a friendly smile, April gently pulled away. "Just the two of us. You need to get out of town."

Saki's eyes flickered over her face. "Osaka? And what shall we do there?"

"Whatever you want," April said as lightly as she could, picking up her box once more. "You work so much. You need to... I don't know, relax a little. Chill, ya know?" He raised a skeptical brow, but April could feel him losing the battle against her will. It was a delicious sort of power, one that she secretly relished. "Please?" she added, bouncing on her tiptoes.

"Fine," he relented with a small smile. "I will pick you up tomorrow."

"Good," April patted his chest lightly. "Don't be late."

* * *

The next day dawned, and April checked her appearance more than once. Not that she minded what Saki thought of her looks. Okay, so that was a lie. But it wasn't because of any personal feelings between them. It was only natural to want a young attractive man to thinks he was pretty. Right?

Not that Shen had been any help.

* * *

"Just hold still!" she'd told April the night before, before brutally ripping off the wax strips she'd placed over April's eyebrows.

"Ow!" April shrieked, rubbing furiously at her sore skin before she noticed Shen's look of terror. "What is it?"

"Oh my god," Shen slapped a hand over her open mouth. "April, I am so sorry!"

"What? What?" April panicked. "Where's the mirror? What did you do?"

"Your eyebrow!" Shen pointed in horror. "It is half-gone!"

" _What?"_

"I am so sorry! So so so sorry!"

"Give me the mirror! Hurry! Oh my god, Shen-" It was then that Shen had given in to her giggles, and when April turned to gape at her, Shen burst into laughter that had her red in the face.

"I am just – just kidding! You are fine!" She shoved the mirror at April, who quickly used it to look at her perfectly acceptable eyebrows, before exhaling in deep relief. Then she flung the mirror aside and jumped on top of her friend, tickling her furiously.

"YOU SORRY EYEBROW HELPER!"

"I REGRET NOTHING!"

* * *

"Hm," April swept a finger over her eyebrow, like she had done a dozen or so times already, just making absolutely sure that it was still there. Which it was. Shen had done a fine job of both giving her trimmed eyebrows and also a heart attack.

Saki's truck pulled up to the front of the house a few minutes later, and April hurried out, purse in hand, though she balked when she saw him standing against the truck cab, arms folded.

Let's just say April was very glad he was not close enough to hear her very undignified squeak at his appearance. She'd only seen him in Western clothes once, during the festival, and he'd been covered by a long jacket then. This time, he wore a shorter black jacket over a grey shirt and a pair of jeans.

 _Thank **god** he is not this hot in my time, _April thought swiftly. That would have made for some really distracting fights.

What was interesting to April, particularly when she and Saki loaded up in his truck and headed to Osaka, was that despite the fact that Saki was good-looking (and she was not the only one who thought so, judging from what she'd heard around town), he never seemed to take his eyes off her when they were together. With the exception of their meeting in the hospital, he always watched her, gave only her his rare smiles and touches, went out of his way for her even though she didn't think herself anything special, and certainly not a great beauty.

Not that April was down on herself about her appearance, but it was hard not to feel ungainly next to her three closest friends, all of whom seemed quite assured of themselves, when April had spent the better part of her life trying to figure out how to process her changing body and growing pains without a mother. Or even a load of friends, for that matter. Before the turtles, she'd hardly had a group to call her own. Irma had been her closest confidant, and hell, she'd turned out to be a Kraang in disguise. Not exactly encouraging.

It had felt, in April's opinion, like she'd been building up to something for most of her life, without the usual steps along the way to reassure her that her path was the right one. Instead, she'd gone from a girl with few interests past good grades and a nice book to someone who fights alongside mutants against criminal warlords, alien civilizations, gang-street thugs and madmen bent on taking over the world.

Who had she become during that time?

And was that the person that Saki saw?

* * *

They came to the city and went downtown, and although Saki made no attempt to touch her or hold her hand, she felt him close at her side. His countenance was threatening even when he did not necessarily mean to be, and April noticed more than a few people (men in particular) avoiding them on the sidewalks.

His face was still so grave, and April formed a quick plan.

"What is this again?" he asked suspiciously a few minutes later, looking up at the brightly colored establishment. April laughed and grasped his wrist, tugging on him fruitlessly, as he was quite the immovable force when he wanted to be.

"Boba tea!" she grinned, pulling as hard as she could. He didn't budge a single inch, and he seemed to grow only more amused at her attempts. "Come on, how can you not know this? Shen took me here on our girls day, she says lots of Japanese people drink this!"

"This is not the type of establishment I frequent," he gave her his most sardonic of looks, which was quite potent. But it wouldn't work on April, who knew how to weasel her way out of his stubbornness.

"Why not?" April glanced up at the sign. "Is it the lime green and pink polka dot walls?"

"It could be," he said with a nod. "Or the cartoon characters. Or the fact that all of the tables are shaped like mushrooms."

"Pleaseeeeeeee," April pulled with all her strength, and finally Saki gave in, and if there was anything in the world funnier to April O'Neil than the sight of Saki standing against the backdrop of a brightly-colored bubble tea shop, she couldn't think of it.

* * *

They took their bubble teas and settled on the grassy area of a nearby park. The afternoon was still cool with winter, but Osaka experienced little snow, and the sky was brilliant and blue. People were out in droves, shopping and eating, and children laughed and ran on a nearby playground.

April and Saki took seats against the grass, drinks in hand, and together they watched the many people parading around the park. "What are these?" Saki asked, peering at the bottom of his cup, and April giggled.

"They're tapioca balls. You suck them up through the straw and eat them," she said, demonstrating on her own lavender bubble tea. Saki rolled his eyes, making her grin around her straw, and joy filled her when he returned it. As much as he claimed to think boba tea was stupid, he still drank his chocolate version down to the very last drop, even pulling out his straw and dropping the tapioca into his mouth as they laughed.

"Mm, so many jokes," April snickered, and responded by using his straw to punch another hole in the top of hers. "Agh! Stop stealing my drink!"

"I do not want your silly drink," he said, raising both brows at her. "I only want to ruin it for you."

"I don't care," April made a face at him. "I'll use two straws." Which she did with a suck of her cheeks, though she began laughing and nearly choked, which made them laugh more until they were both lying on their backs, faces turned up at the sky. Their empty drinks cast aside, they looked up at the blueness that hung over them, punctuated with tufts of white, stunning in its brightness.

April rolled over on to her stomach, her elbow brushing his. She had thought to say something, but when she looked at him, her words caught in her throat. He filled silence by reaching up, two fingers deftly plucking a blade of grass from her hair. The simple motion brought a flush to her cheeks, and she wondered why she had brought him here.

Was it to comfort him? Help him deal with the grief of losing his uncle?

Or was it because she didn't like seeing him so distressed? Because, in the end, really what she wanted was to distract him from the darkness that sat behind his eyes, an eclipse of sanity and logic that she had witnessed, just for a moment, that day in the hospital.

That was not the Saki she wanted. And that was not the Saki who was here with her now, looking to her without a single thought to ever look away. When he sat up slowly from the grass, April did the same, pushing herself up with her hands. Her hair fell loose around her face, and it brushed over her parted lips until Saki moved his hand to push it out of the way. His thumb swept over her jaw, and now she felt his nearness rather than saw it.

Life went on around them, with people milling about on their usual business, but April and Saki remained close, wrapped in their own proximity to one another, blind and deaf to everything else.

Until a voice spoke.

" _Sumimasen?"_

They jerked away from each other, startled, and April cleared her throat before she looked up to see a pair of young girls standing shyly nearby. They spoke in rapid Japanese, and she turned helplessly to Saki, who faced her again with an annoyed flicker of his eyes.

"They want to take a picture with you," he translated wryly, and when April's brows furrowed in confusion, he reached up to her ear and traced a piece of bright red hair, which he held at its tip in front of her so she could see.

"Ah," April said with a small giggle. She pulled away from Saki reluctantly and stood with the two girls, who happily took a picture with her and then thanked her, bowing quickly before dashing off. The heat of Saki's hand on her face had not left her, but April still forced herself to look and give him a quick, casual shrug.

"Well, I guess we should be off!"

* * *

The wooden fence felt brittle under her fingertips, but April stayed where she was, seated on the highest railing. She and Saki had returned from Osaka the day before and had not seen each other since, but he had not left her thoughts for a single moment.

This place was further away from the village than she'd ever been by herself, but it was still a part of the local area, an outlying arrangement of fields and pastures encircled by old wooden fencing. She could see the village from where she was, seated to one side and embedded in the mountain, looking as organic and natural as the peaks high above it.

And on the opposite side, lower and further down the hill, was the metropolis of Osaka.

Months had gone by since Renet had left her here. Spring had edged its way in, and the first blooms dotted the sweeping landscape in front of her. The wide open field, a tundra of grass with sparse trees, lay out in front of her like an invitation. And yet she remained where she was, balanced on the railing, not facing the village or Osaka, but instead sitting sideways on the railing with her face turned to the sky.

A deep sigh escaped her.

What would happen to her here? Who would she be in this town, this country, this time?

It seemed very much that her time here had made her question more than what she thought she knew of the past. More than the character of the people she'd heard of in story. She questioned herself, her powers, and what she was capable of. Her powers felt like they were yearning for her to react to them, to use them, stretch them like a muscle. But what they wanted, she wasn't sure.

Wind swept her hair and April turned her face in the direction of it. As she did so, a figure moved in her vision. She knew, even before she could make out the details of his face, that it was Saki.

Turning on the fence, she lowered both feet to the middle rung, not dropping to the earth but facing him now as he approached, confident and assured. The land was clear in front of her, and she had a very long time to watch him, that slowly-building crest inside of her pushing forward insistently with every step he took in her direction.

Even when he came near enough to speak, he remained silent, as did April. The look in his eyes was enough, and she was not surprised when his steps slowed and moved right up to her, his gaze never leaving hers. As tall as he was, April's high seat placed their faces level, and so he only had to reach out and touch her cheek to prompt her to lean forward.

As she did, she wondered for the briefest of moments if this was part of Renet's plan. If it was what she was meant to do.

Was she here to make Oroku Saki a good man?

In the end, it did not matter what the answer to her question was, because April knew as she closed the distance between them that Renet's motives were not what compelled her now. Their lips met, Saki's hand warm and comforting on her jaw, and it was because April wanted it. Not because she was told.

His arm moved around her waist and lifted her from the railing, turning and tenderly dropping her until her feet hit the ground. As soon as she was steady, he turned his head and deepened the kiss, and April felt the air fly out of her lungs. Her lips parted against his in a gasp, liquid heat racing through her veins, and her fingers reached up and curled at his neck.

When his eyes opened to look at her, their faces still so close, April reached up a curled finger and traced his cheek in wonder. The way this man looked at her, it wasn't like what she had experienced at home, not for her. Her heart flared to life at his touch, and when her wandering fingertip found its way down his neck, it was only to curl into the collar of his clothes and tug him back into another heated kiss.

The words were gone. The teasing was gone. With Saki's arms wrapped around her, she had a glimpse of the person she'd wondered about before. The kind she had become since getting mixed up in all of this.

She wasn't sure if she liked that person or not. She didn't know this April.

The one in Oroku Saki's arms.

* * *

Author's Note: Ahh, April...

I have had several light-haired friends get asked for pictures in Japan, particularly the redheads.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: So far so good in school! Send me prayers or good vibes if you will. I try not to spend too much time thinking of my stories while in class (that's what work is for), but it's really hard when you're excited about what's coming up. So THANK YOU for all of your support! My stories are my home away from home.

Also, special shout out to **Mangakan** , the only reviewer who figured out who the little boy in chapter six is! (Or at least, the only one who mentioned it.)

One last note: If you're like me and like music that goes with a story, my suggestion to you for this entire story is the Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra soundtrack. Both are devastatingly beautiful and any number of those songs fit the mood of this fic.

* * *

The night loomed, but April did not sleep.

Shen tossed and turned at her side, and something about her movements made April smile. She'd never had a brother or sister to share a bed with, but she'd always imagined it as such a cozy scene, curled up in one another, drawing comfort and warmth. Sleeping next to Tang Shen, on the other hand, meant April was taking her life into her own hands. Shen flailed, bounced, and stretched like a little kid, and it wasn't unusual for April to wake up with her friend's leg slung across her, or her toes up around April's face. Gingerly moving Shen's limp hand from her face (one finger dipping dangerously close to her mouth), April turned on her side and fell back into deep thought.

It was not the first time she had thought of Donnie and Casey since coming to Japan, but it _was_ the first time she'd let the guilt truly roll over her, the realness of what had happened between her and Saki mounting ever higher until it threatened to topple over and crush her underneath. She didn't feel like she had betrayed them, really. She'd made it a point several times to tell them both she had no commitment to them, no obligation to assuage their egos or give them a title. All she'd wanted out of her life once she'd met the turtles was a little peace of mind and the safety of her friends and family.

That wasn't to say she hadn't sometimes enjoyed the attention. Just as she wondered now what Saki saw in her that gave his eyes such a dark, faraway look of longing, she could not possibly imagine what could conjure such competition between two perfectly acceptable males. Okay, so maybe Donnie hadn't had a lot of options when it came to girls, but neither had his brothers, and none of them had even hinted at anything other than friendship with her. It was always Donnie.

Donnie was her best friend. Whether because of the crush or in spite of it, she had become closer with him than anyone, and one of the reasons she'd avoided the whole romantic thing was because she didn't want to lose that with him. And okay, so maybe she'd been scared. Scared of what being in a relationship might be like, because she hadn't even had her parents' marriage to watch and emulate. That, too, had been cut short, and everything April had observed had always been at such a great distance, she was sure it had been obscured in some way.

What did she know about being someone's girlfriend?

Not that Donnie would care, because he wouldn't know anything about being someone's boyfriend, but the weight of such a consideration often took April's mind away from what could be nice about having someone there for her directly to the idea of losing them. It was too much. After her mother, her father, New York, it was all just... too much.

To be with someone was to lose them. In April's mind, that was clear. And just the very thought of it, so distressful to her heart, made her shy away from it all. It made her angry, clear to her bones, to think about the obligation she had to love others.

 _Wow_ , she thought. _Where did that come from?_

She had never realized, in her seventeen years of living, that loving other people was so taxing to her, that her fear of losing them had bubbled under the surface of her skin until it had hardened into a shell, keeping others at bay. Donnie, Casey. It didn't matter. She could love them, and she did. But to let herself care for them that way felt like a horrible trap.

April reached up a trembling hand and wiped at tears she'd only just realized were there.

So why did she feel this way for Saki? Knowing what he was? Knowing who he was?

She felt certain now that Renet leaving her here had to do with Saki, had to do with changing him and making him a better person. But what would that affect in the future? The turtles hadn't told her much about their return, skipping over the details in their grief, but she knew they'd witnessed the rise of the Foot Clan, the last great stand of Hamato Yoshi against Saki, the death of Shen.

If Renet had left her here with the intention to keep all of that in tact, she had failed.

What could April do? Hide in the woods, not talking to or interacting with anyone? She had no idea when Renet would be back, if she came at all, and she'd be damned if she was going to watch every nook and cranny, ready to preserve a timeline she didn't even know all that well, when it wasn't even her idea to come here. Renet had wanted her to do something, but she hadn't told her what.

So April would decide on her own.

Turning onto her opposite side, April saw Shen was awake, staring at her in the cool light of early morning. After observing her friend for a moment, Shen jumped forward and wrapped her arms around April's head, squeezing it as April shrieked.

"What are you doing, Shen?!"

"Holding your head so it does not explode!" declared Shen with a dramatic wave of one arm, keeping April pinned with the other. "Do not explode, my friend! Your head will make a big mess in my room!"

"Arrghh! Let go of my head!"

"I will not!"

* * *

The next morning, April and Shen rolled out of bed late, took their time eating breakfast and finally dressed around noon. It felt good to hang out with her friend, laughing at the television and making a mess in the house, and by the time they left that afternoon, April was in very good spirits.

"Come, I need to go get some school supplies from the market," Shen said, leading April out of the house. They left the car behind and walked, each enjoying the sunny day as it warmed their faces. And yet, as they drew closer to the market square, they realized it was more crowded than usual. Shen's happy smile faded away, and a painful weight grew in April's chest. The crowd ahead of them was restless, all muttering quickly to each other, some straining to see over the heads of the rest.

April and Shen moved through the crowd, pushing and sliding between bodies to get to the front. When they finally emerged, they slid to a stop in unison.

In the center of the market, overturned and burnt black, was a truck April had seen before. It was Oroku Nagi's vehicle, the one he'd been driving when he'd attacked April in the forest. It was empty, but it had not been wrecked here. Someone had dragged it to the center of town and left it for all to see.

On the side, in a painting of rusty red that could have only been blood, was the Foot Clan symbol with a great strike through it.

* * *

April rushed back to Shen's house, telling her to go inside and that she'd come for her later. Shen protested, but April left her, disappearing down the street and turning corner after corner until she found the road that led out into the forest. If followed one way, it would reach the Hamato estate further up the mountain, but that was too far to travel by foot, and April knew she would not have to go such a distance to find him. He was nearby, she knew it.

The forest wrapped around her, unbareably peaceful in contrast to the growing panic in the streets. April hurried down the unpaved path until she heard voices, causing her to skid to a stop and dart behind a tree. Her heart pounded, but she kept silent, focusing all of her energy on stealth.

The voice she heard, angry and harsh at it had ever sounded, was Yoshi.

"... me you did not do this, Saki. Tell me!"

Silence followed, and April braved a peek around the tree to see Yoshi standing, his shoulders tight and his hands clenched, his eyes lowered to Saki's seated form. The latter sat on a tree stump, the knife he often carried in one hand, a piece of wood to be whittled in another. He continued his task without looking up at Yoshi, a mask of indifference over his features.

When he didn't answer, Yoshi's face crumpled into one of despair.

"Tell me you did not kill Oroku Nagi, and I will believe you, brother."

 _Crsh. Crsh. Tsch. Crch._ Saki dragged the knife over the wood, even as Yoshi continued to speak. After several moments of only the sound of his work, he glanced up at Yoshi.

"I cannot tell you that."

Yoshi's face took on sharp, severe angles, honed in anger. "How could you do this?"

"He killed our uncle, Yoshi, and he insulted our family."

Yoshi growled in response, his shoulders shaking. "Damn it, Saki! We are not a street gang or the damn Yakuza! We do not simply kill people without proof of their deeds, or because we do not like them!"

"Father did," Saki bit out, his eyes deeply narrowed. "That was how we won the war against the Foot Clan and re-established peace."

Yoshi said flatly, "You are not Father."

"And neither are you!" Saki stood up swiftly, face to face with Yoshi, and the two heated glares met like walls of fire. "So do not presume to tell me what I do and do not do. You may be the eldest son, but I am still my own man. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot control me, the way Father controls you."

Yoshi's expression shifted, hurt flashing over his features. Still, he schooled it back into a stern mask as Saki turned away, his posture unrepentant.

"Besides," Saki said mildly, resuming his seat. His work continued, the knife jutting against the wood more forcefully with each stroke, even as his words calmed to a low, flat edge. "You should praise me for my restraint, Yoshi. I could have killed Oroku Nagi _and_ all of his men... but I did not."

He leaned back in his seat and examined his handiwork, as indifferent to Yoshi's glare as he seemed to be to all else. "I kept them alive. I wanted them to know."

"Know what?" Yoshi managed between clenched teeth.

Saki set aside his knife and eyed his handiwork, only to crush the now fragile wood in his hand. Pieces fell between his fingers and littered the ground.

"Who to fear," he said, finally looking at Yoshi once more.

* * *

By the time April ran back to Shen's house, her chest screamed with pain, her tears threatening to choke her. How could she have been so stupid? How could she let it slip her mind?

How could she have forgotten he was The Shredder?

* * *

 _He paused in front of the door, which materialized from seemingly nowhere, shrouded by blurred edges and faroff voices. Then he pulled it aside and stepped into the room._

 _His wife smiled up at him from the bed, tentative but too elated to hide it. In her arms, nestled in a blanket, an infant mewled and yawned, eyes still closed, tiny fists curled._

" _Another son," she told Keiji, who entered the room slowly and then came to stand at the edge of the bed. The nurses and midwives had gone a few minutes before, and this was the first time he'd looked upon his new son's face. Reaching out, he gently brushed a curled finger over the infant's black hair._

" _He looks healthy," said Keiji, eyes darting to hers once before he took a seat on the edge of the mattress and leaned over to press a kiss to her temple. He immediately pulled away from it, but she beamed nonetheless. "Thank you," he told her, nodding towards their second son._

" _He looks a bit more like you than Nagi, I think," she said, drawing a loving fingertip down the infant's rosy cheek._

" _Lucky him," Keiji smirked, his eyes on his son's face, though he was careful to inspect all of him. When he brushed a patch of dark skin on the inside of the infant's wrist, he glanced at his wife._

" _A birthmark, I think," she told him._

" _Ah," he took the tiny fingers in his and held them between just two of his own. They stayed that way until his wife grew sleepy, and Keiji beckoned to the baby. "Let me take him. My father and uncle want to see him, and so does Nagi."_

 _He slipped the baby from her arms, cradling him in his own, and moved to leave the room so she could rest._

" _Be careful with him, Keiji..." her voice faded away._

 _As he moved out of the room, Keiji dipped his head close to the baby's face and kissed his forehead. "I love you, my son."_

* * *

April jerked, as if coming out of a deep sleep, but in reality, she'd been sitting in the front yard outside Shen's home, mindlessly turning a pack of flower seeds in her hand. She and Shen had discussed starting a garden, and April had been going over what sort of plants might grow best. But she'd become distracted, and the memory had overtaken her in such a possessive way. Uncomfortable, she frowned at the packet of seeds and touched the key under her shirt.

"Why do you always look so troubled?"

Fear wrapped around April's heart like a vice, but she turned slowly and calmly, hoping that for once, her face didn't read with all of her thoughts.

"Saki," she stood, letting the seed packet fall to the grass. He stooped and picked it up, handing it back to her as his eyes flickered over her face. "I was just – I don't know, thinking. I guess that's... just how my face looks." She dropped her gaze, and she felt Saki move closer.

When he brushed a hand at her jaw, April's first instinct was to flinch. The image of The Shredder was too close to her mind, the voice she'd heard the day before talking to Yoshi of striking fear into Foot Clan all too reminiscent of battle cries she'd heard before. Before The Shredder had hurt someone, or let the entire city of New York go to hell, all in the name of vengeance.

Saki noted her flinch and immediately pulled away, his expression dropping into a frown. After a few moment's of silence, in which April stared forcefully at her own feet, Saki spoke quietly.

"Ask me, if you want."

Her lips parted, her heart pounding. "I – I don't -"

"I will not lie to you, April." He remained where he was, but she felt his presence all around her, as if he'd drawn closer. "Ask me what it is you want to know."

Blue eyes lifted to Saki's, and April squared her shoulders, resolve pushing her to be strong. "Did you kill Oroku Nagi?"

"Yes," he answered without hesitation.

It hurt more than she thought, and why? She knew what he was. She knew better than anyone here, perhaps including Saki himself, and yet she still wanted better for him. Before she could speak – though she had no words to do so – Saki tilted his head to look at her and said, "But I did not murder him. I challenged him to a fight. He accepted, knowing well how it might end for him."

April's eyes flickered up, brows furrowed, eyes glassy.

"And end for him, it did." Saki shrugged. "It is not my fault he lost. If I had been under his blade, he would have killed me, just as he would have killed you in the forest that day if I had not been there."

Something in April shifted, even as her logical mind protested against it.

 _Saki's right, he would have killed you._

 _That doesn't mean Saki should have killed him._

 _He challenged him to a fight and Nagi accepted._

 _How do you even know that's true?_

He hadn't told Yoshi that, after all. She fought to meet Saki's gaze, but it felt too close, too unprotected, and she couldn't. Trembling, she took a seat on the outside chair once more, her fingers mindlessly turning over the seed packet.

Saki came to crouch in front of her, a respectable distance away. "Perhaps I was a little overzealous in burning his truck and leaving it in the market..." he conceded, and April couldn't help the look she gave him, which screamed _Ya Think?_

In response, Saki made an equally displeased face at her. "I was angry, April. I am sorry for making it a spectacle." He looked away, his gaze dark. "But I am not sorry for killing Oroku Nagi. He should not have crossed my family."

 _Your brother_ , she thought dully. _Oroku Nagi was your brother._

"April..." he reached out, and April's eyes caught the movement just as he balked, keeping his hand from hers, the memory of her flinch before keeping his touch at bay. He pulled it away, his eyes lowering. How his face mirrored Yoshi's when his feelings were wounded, April thought vaguely. It changed the entire look of his sharp face, and for just a moment, he looked his age.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I'm just... afraid."

Saki's eyes flickered up to hers, his features pinched with sorrow. "Of me?" he asked very quietly.

April could see the manipulation as clear as a cloud on a bright sunny day. Oroku Saki had not gotten to the powerful position he'd held in New York simply by being threatening. He had not obtained vast wealth and control of generations old gangs by a mere display of force. He was a clever man, frighteningly so, and April could see that now in his younger self.

Or at least, that's what she knew on the surface. Another part of her saw his anguish as genuine. And who was she to say that it wasn't? Saki displayed so few emotions on his face, it was almost impossible to determine which were authentic and which were not. Did he really feel so distressed at the idea of April fearing him?

If his slumped posture and desperate gaze were hints at all, April could only come to the conclusion that any rejection of Saki would be the last. His sensitivity could not endure more than one, however small. That, at the very least, was something she could confirm from what she knew of him in the future. No man without intense passions could live solely on hatred for so long.

"No," she whispered. "Not of you."

"Do you swear?" he asked, wrapping his long fingers around hers and pulling her to a standing position. The warmth of his hands was inviting, and April felt that yes, her declaration was the truth. As fearful as she'd been when she heard him talking to Yoshi in the forest, he'd made his point here. Oroku Nagi would have killed her, and Saki as well. Getting rid of him... It was an evil, but the lesser of two.

"I swear," she said more firmly, and without waiting for an invintation, she leaned into his arms and pressed her cheek against his chest. His arms pulled her close and his lips brushed the top of her head, before he said, "Good. I never want you to feel that way."

The question, muffled against his clothing, came before April could stop it.

"And what if one day I do?"

Saki peered down at her, moving just far enough away to scan her face. Then he reached down, closing one hand over hers and pulling it over his heart.

"Then strike me down, April," he told her. "Because I would not deserve to live."

* * *

The police came and hurriedly looked the other way.

Oroku Nagi's truck was removed from the market square, and with a slow, uncomfortable pace, the city returned to normal. Spring had begun, and the warm air kicked up in the city with force. When April and Shen began their garden, Yoshi and Saki happened by, and though April glanced between the two of them for any hint of disagreement, they appeared as amiable toward one another as always.

Yoshi was jovial once more, insistent on helping Shen whenever he could with the garden, and Saki moved away earthworms and bugs with an eyeroll whenever April found herself too squeamish.

It looked and sounded so normal, so placid, and April wondered if she didn't have her powers of sensitivity, it might feel that way, too. However, a flicker of apprehension from Yoshi, a split-second glare from Saki, all felt as if they were adding up, even as they remained deeply hidden.

For now.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Man, I have tried like three times to write this chapter, but I have just been too exhausted. I couldn't even stay up past ten pm last night to watch a tv show.

But here you go! Not nearly as much action in this story as my others... But those scenes will come. There's a storm a'brewin, as they say around my neck of the woods...

* * *

It was surprisingly easy to fall into a routine with Saki.

Even though April certainly expected that their relationship was now what one might consider official – and had no reason to believe otherwise –their behavior together remained mostly unchanged, though April came to understand that this was more of a cultural difference than personal preference. Outward affection, pet names and things of the like were not all that common in this area, with Shen's lavish attentions to her best friend being the sole exception. So even though Saki still often nodded to April in public rather than embraced her, his secret smiles were more than ample reminder of the connection they shared, and if April ever _did_ need someone to hold her hand, Shen was always there, uncaring of anyone who was watching.

For the first few weeks, April continued to observe Saki when they were around Shen, or even Shen and Yoshi together, but his behavior towards April's friend and roommate was unchanged as ever. Even when Yoshi made his appearances, as he often did, and flirted shamelessly with Shen, Saki never seemed to notice or mind.

After a while, it was easy enough to forget that April had ever thought he loved Shen at all.

And without the obsessive love of Tang Shen, it was easier, by leaps and bounds, to remove Hamato Saki from The Shredder she knew. And if April gave herself a little credit for this positive change, it was something she kept to herself.

* * *

Next to her, sitting in silence as he had been for nearly half an hour, Saki dutifully turned a page in his novel.

"This book is terrible," he said at last, his tone flat.

April glanced up with a grin from where she was sketching onto a notepad. The afternoon was warm and beautiful around them, and they'd chosen to spend Saki's 'study time' outside, so at least they sit next to one another against a large old tree while he finished his work.

"I can't believe your dad is having you read _Wuthering Heights,_ " April admitted, leaning a cheek on his shoulder and peering at the text. "I mean, we read it a lot in high school, but wow. Your dad is serious about your English training."

"I enjoy some English literature," he admitted, closing the book with a snap. "But this book does not make any sense to me. Am I supposed to want Heathcliff and Catherine to marry? Or are they the villians?"

April curled one of her arms around his and their fingers linked as she peered thoughtfully at the leatherbound book cover. "I don't know," she admitted, gaze pensieve. "They're both awful people. And they don't even seem to get along that well. They're too much the same." Reaching over him, April flipped open the pages until she found the text. " _I am Heathcliff,_ " she read aloud. " _He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same._ "

Saki tilted his head towards her, and his lips brushed the crown of her head, so that she could feel him smile. "It sounds like a very romantic novel, if that is the only line you know."

Turning her eyes to his, April brought their faces close. "I guess that's why it's best to hear the whole story," she said softly, stroking the hand she held entwined in hers.

"And so you've read it?"

At her nod, he set the book aside and pulled her closer, so that she was against his chest. One arm moved around her waist, and he looked down at her in that way that made her feel like he was placing each word she spoke into a special, cherished part of his memory.

"And? Are they villains or are they lovers?"

April thought about it, but it was hard to concentrate with Saki so near. "I think they're both," she said at last. "Two horrid, selfish people who act on every impulse they believe will take them away from each other, only to find themselves right back where they started."

"That is not the worst fate one can come to, I think," said Saki, shifting his arms around April as she dropped her face into his neck, curiously comfortable at their proximity, relishing in the comfort it brought. An amicable silence floated between them for a moment before Saki spoke again.

"What are you doing here in Japan, April?"

She froze in his arms, her eyes wide, hidden against him. Slowly, she shifted away, just enough to look at him. Her pulse jumped in her fingertips and her arms felt weak with fear. He didn't look angry or suspicious, at least, but he watched her very carefully for any hint of a lie.

As April stared, unwilling to speak, Saki waited patiently, no less familiar with her than before. The hand joined in hers moved in his long fingers and he curled it gently against his upraised knee as he waited for her to answer.

She thought of a thousand half-truths, and a thousand more outright lies. She tried to remember everything she had told Shen, about the university and the hang-ups.

But they all evaporated from her tongue.

April dropped her head, her chest clenching painfully as she fought back a hard swallow. "You really want to know?" she asked after a long moment, her voice soft and shaky, and when she lifted her eyes to Saki, she saw him nod, his dark brows furrowed.

"I'm here," April said, fighting to keep her voice firm, "because for the last three years, I've been involved with a group of ninja in New York. Their master is the one who talk me how to use a tessen, and ever since I met them, it has been one dangerous, crazy, absolutely insane thing after another." She sucked in a deep breath, and Saki's image fell to the side in her vision. "I mean," she prattled on. "I love them, I do. They're my family, and I would never regret knowing them, but oh my _god,_ I haven't had a normal week in three years, my dad has gotten kidnapped more than once, they're always in danger, things are always going nuts, there are ALWAYS people after me -" she sucked in a deep breath, tears brimming as she released the frustrated torrent she'd kept confined to journals and quick mental rants that left her feeling guilty as hell.

"And the whole reason I came here, is because someone ELSE that is involved with them, someone who is also involved in really dangerous, crazy stuff, brought me here for some reason but wouldn't tell me why, and I can't get in contact with the guys. I can't go anywhere else until she comes back, I have no idea if they're okay, I'm scared I'll never see my dad again, and all of this is just totally out of my control _just_ – _like_ – _freaking_ – _always_!"

That was when a small choked sob finally bubbled to the surface, and April squeezed her eyes shut.

"Not all that long ago, our entire city was overrun, and we had to spend four months in an abandoned house, and I just – I felt like I needed to take care of them, because they were injured and scared, but I didn't know what to do and I -" She felt her trembling hands reach for her face with a vague sense of detachment. "This feels like that," she choked out. "Like I'm stuck somewhere again, and I'm supposed to be doing this thing, but I don't know how and I'm afraid if I fail, people will get _hurt_ again."

She dropped her hands heavily to her lap.

"And not to mention the fact that I'm not actually graduated from highschool, and god only knows if THAT will ever happen, because I may never get back home and even if I do, my school may be nothing more than a freaking crater in the ground!"

April drew in one last, deep, rattling breath. "Because that is the kind of thing that happens to me," she murmured, suddenly deflated. "Someone's trying to hurt me and my friends, someone is in trouble, our enemies are at the door, people are getting hurt or killed..."

Her mind clouded with thoughts of Leonardo, beaten and nearly dead, flying through the window of her apartment.

Of Karai, mutated and incoherent with rage.

Of Master Splinter's grief, his hours of agonized meditation afterwards.

Of her time as a Kraang prisoner, threatened by Kraang Prime.

The turtles. Time and time and time again, with cracked shells and bruised skin. That time Slash had nearly killed Donnie and Mikey. Those horrible hours Raphael had spent under mind-control. Watching her father get _mutated._ And then – her mother, in the farmhouse... So _close..._

Tears poured down April's face, swift and silent, but a hand came up and caught them.

"Look to me," Saki said softly, and April managed to open her eyes to see him lean close. His body encircled hers, and his motions were soothing, but his voice became firm.

"Your enemies do not fear the weak," he told her, his dark gaze serious. "They fear you, April, because you are strong." His rough, warm hand brushed away her tears with shocking gentleness.

April murmured, "I'm sorry. You didn't ask for all that."

Turning her so that her back was against his chest, Saki pulled her close and his strong arms moved around her stomach, where they rested.

"It is exactly what I asked for," he whispered to her, before placing a gentle kiss on her shoulder.

* * *

"Guess what I learned!" April exclaimed excitedly a few days later, a mischievous grin on her features, to which Saki responded with a suspicious glare.

"What?"

"It'ssss..." she tossed up her hands, raining down strips of paper that served as confetti on a very unimpressed Saki. "Your birthday today!" She pointed at him, trying not to laugh, as he was now covered in her homemade confetti. "And don't try to say it's not."

"I am going to kill Yoshi," he deadpanned.

* * *

"See, this isn't so bad!" April laughed, leading him into the meadow, though she jerked to a stop when Saki also halted behind her, unwilling to go any further at the sight of Yoshi and Shen, waiting on a blanket with a load of food in baskets.

"Happy Birthday, little brother!" Yoshi declared very loudly from his spot, waving frantically as if Saki could not see him from fifteen feet away. "And you are welcome!"

It took ten minutes of begging and tugging, but at last, Saki sat down with the others on their picnic blanket, a reluctant grin working its way on to his features.

"Eighteen," Shen said with a laugh. "Growing up so fast!"

"Mm," grunted Saki as he settled next to April. "I do not normally celebrate my birthday. And neither does anyone in my family, for that matter." Even so, he smiled at April as she took his hand in hers and kissed his knuckles.

Dipping into the picnic basket, April proudly unveiled a plate of delicious cupcakes, which she set in the center of the four of them. "Well, you should!" she said, but no sooner were the words out of her mouth than Shen snatched up a cupcake and crammed most, if not all of it straight into her mouth.

"Shen!" April shrieked. "That had a candle in it!"

"Ohmgrusah-" Laughing uncontrollably around her cupcake, Shen pulled the candle out of her mouth, making Yoshi and April lapse into hysterics, with even Saki threatening to lose his breath to laughter.

"I'm sorry!" Shen said as soon as she could manage, still trying to get rid of all the icing on her face. "I have been thinking about these cupcakes _all day!"_

* * *

The four of them enjoyed Saki's birthday in a liesurely manner. Saki outright refused to eat a cupcake, though he blew out a candle at April's pleading request, and Yoshi was more than happy to eat his cupcake anyway. The spot April had chosen for their picturesque outdoor setting was a meadow to the east of the town, one that brushed up against the high rockwalls that dotted the mountainside. As April and Shen relaxed on the blanket, Yoshi and Saki observed a high natural wall with critical eyes.

"I bet I can climb that faster than you," said Yoshi off-handedly, to which Saki rolled his eyes.

"I could climb that twice in the time it would take your old body to get off the ground," he said, but he'd barely finished before Yoshi shoved him down and sprinted for the wall. Saki raced off after him, and when Yoshi jumped on the rock wall, Saki yanked him back down and jumped up in his place. Yoshi said something in Japanese that was definitely not for children before he followed, the two of them shouting jeers to each other as they climbed, far enough away that their arguments and boasts were a distant echo.

"I think brothers live to fight," Shen commented as she popped a grape in her mouth.

"That's probably true," said April, thinking back to Leo and Raph. They watched the boys for a moment, before she looked slyly at her friend. "So you've been hanging out with Yoshi more."

Shen's cheeks caught a flush, but she simply shrugged. "I see him sometimes. I am busy, and so is he." She paused, drawing out another grape, but she did not eat it and simply kept it in her fingers for want of something to do with her hands.

"Yoshi is great," she said with a sigh. "I know it. But that does not mean I think he can fit in with my life. He will not leave here. And I will not remain. We are only going to cause ourselves pain."

April followed Shen's gaze back to the two boys, who were now nearing the top of their wall, with Saki barely edging out Yoshi. "Yeah," she said softly. "I can relate to that."

She felt Shen turn at her side. "What makes you say that?"

With a shrug, April fought to keep her tone casual. "I'll have to leave Japan some day. I know it. Saki knows it. What we're even doing is beyond me." It was the sad truth, one she typically avoided thinking about, but her confession to Saki a few days ago had stuck in her mind.

What Shen said next surprised her.

"Saki is not like Yoshi, April." April looked to Shen curiously. "I am not saying he is better or worse," Shen continued, reclining against the blanket on her elbows. "But he would leave here for you, I know it. He is the type of man who is willing to make sacrifices, however great the cost. It is a trait, I think, of someone who is very self-interested, but that is not necessarily a bad thing."

They looked back to the boys, who had made it to the top of the wall and were laughing about something.

"Yoshi thinks of others before himself. That is an admirable thing, but it means acting against his own wishes, sometimes. He will not leave this village because he could not bear to do such a thing to his father, to his clan. But Saki is not like this. He loves his family too, I think... but Yoshi is the mountain and Saki is the ocean. Their worlds are simply not made of the same things."

The two girls glanced at one another, April now quiet as she absorbed Shen's words.

"Do you really think he would do something like that for me, though? I mean," April looked to the distant figure of Hamato Saki. "How could he feel that much for me? To leave his home and everything he's ever known?"

It was not a possibility, not where she had to go. But to know he would. That meant something.

Shen said, "I only have to watch him to know that he would let the world fall to ashes, if only to have a single moment to think of you."

* * *

They finished their day, and just before they left the darkening meadow, Saki pulled April aside and embraced her, whispering thanks into her hair. Out of sight from the others, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. It started out slowly, but when she felt his firm fingers at her hip, she found herself stepping closer. The spark of desire she felt then had her wishing they were truly alone.

Saki must have felt the same way, because he pulled away from her very slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. For the first time, she saw him look at her in a completely unguarded way, one that spoke of his youth. He wanted to keep her there, April realized. He really... _wanted_ her.

The thrill from that simple knowledge kept April awake after she and Shen went to bed, and another night passed in near sleeplessness.

* * *

With the four of them together, their time full of laughter and stories, it was easy enough to forget what had happened before. But April could feel, sometimes when the others were occupied and she let her powers seep out into the area, the tension held by Yoshi.

"Are you okay?" she asked one day, when she caught him alone outside one of his father's shops. "You look kind of... lost."

Yoshi blinked, an uncharacterstic look of apprehension coloring his features. "Just thinking," he said, trying to smile but failing to make it even marginally authentic. At April's disbelieving stare, he sighed softly. "I am just thinking about the Foot clan. We have not heard from them. No response since Oroku Nagi's death."

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked April, leaning against the railing.

Yoshi raised a brow at her, his eyes taking on the familiar hint of wisdom she knew from Master Splinter. "Tell me," he said with a tilt of his head. "Have you ever kept children before?"

April blinked. "You mean, like babysitting? Well, yeah, I kept my cousins some."

"So tell me," said Yoshi. "Would you prefer these children were right in front of you, making noise and causing trouble? Or are you more comforted when they are out of sight, silent?"

She thought back to her disastrous babysitting adventures. "Well," she said. "I'd prefer they were right in front of me, I guess."

"Why?"

"Because if I can't see or hear them, I don't know what they're getting up to," she said, understanding dawning even as Yoshi nodded gravely.

"Yes," he agreed quietly. "That is the problem."

* * *

" _Release me!"_

 _Keiji reached up to grip at the hand holding a blade to his throat, but the strength of the other was unrelenting. "Damn you, Hamato Yuuta, you honorless dog!"_

 _The street quickly gathered with frightening spectacters, and Keiji knew his clansmen would be there soon to help him, and so he snapped up an arm and jammed it into the chest of his attacker. When they rounded to face one another, Keiji felt his own blood prickle at the wound on his neck._

" _Attacking me in the streets, like a common theif," Keji snarled at the young man in front of him._

" _You are the theif," sneered Yuuta. "And it is time you are gone from these lands. You and your entire filthy clan! The Hamato ninja will tolerate you and your band of disgraceful brethren any longer!"_

" _I will kill you for such insults!" shouted Keiji, as he lunged for Yuuta, but hands appeared to hold him back and he knew his clan had come. They formed a circle around him, but Yuuta's fellows had arrived as well, and now the two hostile groups stood, glaring, weapons drawn. The most heated and hateful of glares fell between the two young heirs, Keiji and Yuuta._

 _But one of the elders of Keiji's clan called out, "There are too many onlookers here! This village is no place for a battle."_

 _With grunts and growls, the two groups dispersed, but not before Hamato Yuuta sent Keiji a mocking glare. "We will finish this soon, Oroku Keiji..."_

" _So we shall," agreed Keiji._


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Thanks for hanging with me, guys! And seriously, thank you for the reviews and comments. Even to those who are simply reading, I appreciate your time and I hope the story is worth it. Pay special attention to these flashbacks, guys...

xx

* * *

 _Head bowed, Oroku Keiji gripped the edges of an ancient wooden desk, his eyes vacant._

 _The sound of approaching footsteps caused him to tense, and the sharp voice that followed did little to relax him. "There you are," said his wife, eyes flashing. "I had hoped you would be communicating with your Father." When Keiji did not answer, she advanced, arms folded._ " _After that embarrassing display in the city market," she added in a hiss._

" _Shut up," Keiji turned to face her, eyes narrowed. "That damn Hamato Yuuta attacked me. What the hell did you want me to do?"_

" _You should have killed him!" she snarled. "He dishonored you! Dishonored your father! Dishonored your sons! How many times must we endure that assault of that cowardly bunch of impostors? If you were even half the ninja you say you are, you would have slit his throat!"_

 _Keiji growled deep in his chest and turned his back to her. "You know nothing. Go waste your harpy rantings on someone else."_

" _You are the heir to the Oroku clan, Keiji! And yet you stand by and do NOTHING while -"_

" _I SAID SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!" A wave of Keiji's arm sent a low table crashing into the wall, raining small pots and oils to the floor, where they shattered and spilled. In the next room, a baby began to wail, overlapping the shaky gasp of the woman._

" _Well, now," she said, hot tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. "Look what you have done!"_

 _She turned to leave the room, but Keiji snatched her arm and shoved her away from the door. "Go!" he snapped. "I will tend to our son. You are useless." The two met in a heated glare, but she finally turned away, stomping past the debris and leaving it unattended. Keiji turned back to the door of his youngest son's nursery, and with one great sigh to steady his hands, he entered the room quietly._

 _When he gathered his crying son in his arms, he marveled at how much the infant had grown in just the few weeks since his birth. He bounced him lightly, the warmth of the small body in his arms zapping him of his strength. He let himself fall heavily to a chair, with the infant tucked against his chest._

" _I'm sorry, my son," he murmured against the baby's soft head. "If I am doing wrong by you... I am sorry."_

 _xx_

* * *

"HYAH!"

April snapped her arm side to side, tessen firmly in her fingers. The mid-morning sun warmed the air and the grass underfoot, occasionally highlighting the mist of pollen that stretched up from the earth. Once, April had gotten a mouthful of it while training outside, as she was doing now. That had been pretty unpleasant.

She straightened, her eyes narrowed on her target. Nearby, Shen lay outstretched in a lawnchair, a magazine in her hands and a pair of sunglasses perched on the edge of her nose.

Lining up her target – which was a rather mean looking face carved into a tree – April focused her energy, took in a deep breath, pulled back to aim and -

"Your arm is too low!"

\- dropped her tessen with a scowl.

"Well, that is a most unwelcome look if I have ever seen one," said Yoshi as he appeared around the corner of the house, all too pleased with himself. Saki was right behind him, with a matching smirk as the two brothers perched themselves on some boxes next to Shen's house.

"Do you want some help training?" asked Saki innocently.

April turned away from them with a 'hmph!', immediately resettling on her target. "No thank you," she said evenly, trying to focus. It was hard, though, what with the two of them obviously judging her from the side.

"Aw, why not?" asked Yoshi. "We could help her, right, Saki?"

"Oh, yes," Saki said, all too cocky for April's liking. "And I am sure we could even find her a sparring partner, within the clan."

"Like Daisuke?"

"He would be perfect," Saki nodded.

April growled, much to the growing amusement of the boys, and she briefly looked past her annoyance to marvel at how in sync the two of them seemed sometimes. Like when they were being irritating and cocky, which was an inordinately large amount of the time.

"Let me guess," she said flatly, dropping her tessen once more and placing her hand on her hip. "He's like, twelve years old."

"Seven, actually," Saki admitted, leaving Yoshi to snicker at his side as April cut her eyes at them and then promptly turned her back.

"Look, I know you guys are better than me, but I don't need you two getting your jollies off on helping poor little ole' me," she said, huffing as she pulled back her throwing arm. "Plus," she hurled her tessen, watching with satisfaction as it landed firmly in the face of the target she'd drawn. "I think I do pretty well on my own."

"Not bad," Yoshi admitted, rubbing his jaw, and April could swear she spotted a hint of pride in Saki's features as he sent her a secret smile.

"See, April doesn't need your help," said Shen, standing with her magazine. "Because I have taught her some things as well." She sauntered over to Yoshi, her motions deliberately slow and sensual, and his eyes widened, his body arching backwards as she leaned close.

"There is more than one way to win a fight, after all..." she went on softly, pausing for effect while Yoshi stared, stupefied. Then, without warning, she pinched him in the ribs.

"Ow!" he yelped, just before she slapped his arm with the magazine.

"Now leave her alone!" she exclaimed, thwapping him again. "Let April do her training! Go!"

"Okay, okay!"

Shaking her head at him, Shen grinned at April before tossing her magazine on to her chair. "I am going to class now," she said with a wave, disappearing to the front of the house to get in her car. April came to stand next to Yoshi, and when she looked up, Saki had left them to go retrieve April's tessen from the tree for her.

"She is so great," Yoshi said absently, rubbing the spot on his ribs where she'd pinched him. "I want to do something nice for her."

April laughed. "Well, you could... I don't know, get her a romantic gift?" Yoshi shrugged his shoulders, his expression cinched with thought.

"She would want something practical." Yoshi dropped his hand from his rib and picked up the magazine Shen had dropped. "Why is she reading about gardening?" he asked. "You two do not have a garden."

"Not yet," April explained. "But we want to start one – a really cool one, like a big box garden. We just don't know where to start."

Yoshi's face lit up. "That is what I can do for her! I can build her a garden, and a shed as well, and then I can fill it with all the tools you two will need!" He rolled up the magazine and tucked it into his pocket. "I can even build it all on my property, and then bring it over while she is in school, and surprise her when she comes home."

April felt herself smile, genuine happiness filling her at the sight of Yoshi's excitement. "I think she would love that." It delighted her to see Yoshi so excited, and she knew Tang Shen would love his idea. He was so thoughtful, even if he was utterly ridiculous sometimes, and she remembered Master Splinter, and how he spoke so lovingly of Shen.

"You really are great, Yoshi," she told him sincerely, nostalgia tugging at her sensitive heart and making her jump up on her tiptoes and pull him into a hug. Yoshi balked in surprise, but he relaxed after a moment and returned it with a gentle pat at her back, just like Master Splinter.

"Thank you for your help," he told her softly, giving her one last smile before he parted from her and left, as Shen had told him to do. Sighing in satisfaction, April turned to seek out Saki.

And there he was, standing and glaring with heat that permeated the distance between them.

"Saki?" she called out, but he was gone in an instant.

Xx

* * *

Three days he managed to avoid her, but April knew his schedule. And honestly, it hurt her feelings. Hadn't they just begun this... thing? Well, that sounded bad, when one put it that way, but they definitely had some kind of relationship and yet Saki hadn't spoken to her, for whatever reason, since the inception of Yoshi's garden plan.

So she waited, just outside the home of an elderly instructor. And when Saki emerged from his calligraphy lessons, there she was. His trek down the front steps came to abrupt halt at the sight of her, perched on the gate in front of the teacher's home.

"Just try and get past me," April said, eyes narrowed.

To no one's surprise, Saki rolled his eyes and folded his arms, a stiff frown on his features. Then he stepped forward and opened the gate, pushing her weight with it and moved past her.

"Hey!" April hopped off the fence indignantly and hurried after him. "Where are you going? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he said shortly, his long strides matching every three of hers. Not to be deterred, April rushed forward and moved around him, extending her arms to block his path.

"I'm not getting out of your way until you tell me why you're avoiding me!"

"I am not -" he stopped himself, growling when she refused to move out of his way. Not that he couldn't physically move her, but he seemed unwilling to do that, and April pressed her advantage by catching both of his large arms in her comparably small hands and planting herself firmly on the ground.

"Saki," she said firmly, and he fell still and quiet. Then, after a long moment, his dark eyes looked to her.

"What were you talking to Yoshi about?" he asked.

April blinked, caught off guard. "Huh? When?"

"A few days ago. And why did you hug him?"

Understanding caught up with April (a little slow on the uptake, she berated herself mentally). He was mad because she'd hugged Yoshi. _Three days ago. And he was still angry._

Uncomfortable with this realization, as it likened him far too much to the Shredder she knew from the future, April thought through her actions carefully. With a great show of strength, she pulled Saki to the side and sat with him on a bench.

"I hugged Yoshi," she said slowly, to avoid a misunderstanding and perhaps to relate just a little of her annoyance, "because he is my friend. And we were talking about Shen, of course." April dropped her hands and gave Saki a despairing look, because he hardly looked appeased.

No, she decided. This would not stand. This was not the Saki she knew he could be. This was too much like Him. Like the man who had wasted twenty years of his life writhing in hatred and bitterness over slights just like this.

"Saki," she said, her tone firm. When he looked at her, she leaned forward, her eyes flashing. "Even if this type of jealous behavior was perfectly acceptable – _which – it's - not -_ " she leaned back and let her tone soften. "... then it still wouldn't be necessary." Saki glared to the side, unwilling to look at her, but April reached forward unabashedly and touched his jaw.

"Yoshi is my friend, just like Shen. But I'm not interested in him. I'm not WITH him, I'm with -" she paused, hating the awkward flush that came to her cheeks. It only deepened when Saki looked back to her, his eyes not as heated with anger as before. "Well, I'm..." April shrugged. "I'm with – ya know – _you_. If that's what you want."

After a few seconds of silence, Saki nodded. "It is," he spoke at last.

"Good," April said, clearing her throat and taking a moment to quell the bubble of excitement in her chest. "But look, that doesn't mean I can't hug Yoshi, okay? Seriously, I'm... I really," she swallowed. "I really care about you. And I don't plan on going anywhere unless I have to."

Reaching forward, she slipped her fingers in Saki's, and he returned the gentle grip as his posture slowly relaxed. "Saki, the only way for you to lose me is to treat me like I'm already lost," she told him, scooting closer. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," he said finally, his reluctance making him grimace. April allowed herself a small smile.

"Look, I know this is going to be asking a lot of you, but..." she grinned. " _Relax._ Please. Just a little. Every once in a while. Maybe on Sundays."

Saki made a face at her, but when she leaned forward, he let her kiss his cheek and his lips perked at a smile. April beamed at him, moving to draw her arms around his neck, and now he turned and pulled her into a gentle kiss. "Only for you," he agreed teasingly.

"That'll work, I guess," she whispered with a giggle.

Xx

* * *

The next few weeks were among some of the happiest April could remember in her time there in Japan. Saki did as she asked, with a little more prodding on April's part, and she secretly congratulated herself on overruling his natural tendencies. Because that's what she was there for, right?

Not to mention the fact that she marveled at her power, how she had the abilities to make this mighty young man bow to her whim. It might have seemed a little egocentric to think of it that way, but April was rather new to the empowerment of being in a relationship, and to be honest, it was a bit intoxicating.

And to know that it was Saki – the man who had, in her time, defeated and terrified so many – well, she couldn't help but feel pretty good about that. Maybe Renet hadn't assigned her this particular task, but it was what she had decided was for the best, and she was doing a very good job, thank you very much.

Not to mention the fact that Hamato Saki was quickly finding a place in her heart no one else had occupied, not once in her entire life.

xx

* * *

Yoshi, April and Saki all stared, with Yoshi in the middle, his hands on his hips.

He pointed to the tree that had fallen the wrong way, crashing through the previous framework of his garden shed for Shen.

"Who could have forseen that?" he asked the other two, to which Saki let out a frustrated yell from where he stood, covered in dirt and leaves from dodging a falling tree.

"Anyone but you!" he roared.

Xx

* * *

"Happy Birthday, April!"

April and Shen sauntered out of the bedroom, each wearing a cocktail dress, ready for April's birthday dinner in Osaka. "Ooh," Shen peered out of the window at where the boys were waiting. "They look handsome!"

"They do," April agreed. "But don't tell them that."

"Oh, no, of course not."

"But let them tell us we look pretty, and then just nod."

"Yes, yes, for sure."

xx

* * *

"This was a good idea," Saki murmured later that night, holding her in her arms as they stood out in the warm night air. April traced the line of dark hair on the back of his neck, her fingers sifting up through the strands, knowing the motion would make him pull her closer, which it did.

"I thought you didn't like celebrating birthdays," she whispered back, their faces close.

"Not mine," he replied, his lips brushing hers. "Just yours."

She smiled, and even though her eyes closed in that instant, she knew he was smiling as well.

Xx

* * *

"Just put it on the hook," Saki told him impatiently.

"It's wiggling!"

"It is a worm! Would you hold still while being put on a hook?"

When April finally got the worm on the hook, she dropped it into the creek with a splash and laughed with delight. Saki grinned at her and shook his head.

"You are awful. I thought you said you had done this before."

"I went fishing with my dad when I was really little," April explained. "But not once we go to the city! It's been forever. And you are NOT a great teacher, sir. Seriously, Mr. Critical to the max."

"Mm," he leaned back on the bank of the creek, unconcerned as he held his own fishing pole. But whether either of them might have caught a fish was left to the imagination, because they were soon talking and laughing so loudly, any fish would have certainly been scared away. So they abandoned their fishing poles and April leaped on Saki's back, letting him carry her through the sun filtered forest as they explored.

One tree caught April's eye, and she hopped away to drop to one knee and examine it. Carvings, pictures that looked as if they were made by children long ago. A sun. A bird. Stick figures. She smiled, thinking about how other children must have come here to play.

"April!" called Saki, and she jumped up to follow him, leaving the wooden carvings behind.

 _xx_

* * *

 _Keiji slipped to his knees, head bowed. His uncle matched his pose, each acquiesing to the man who stood at the front of the dojo. After a few moments of silence, Keiji lifted his head and fought to hide his impatience. He was within striking distance of his aged father, and he did not care to return home with a fresh mark on his face._

" _The hour is late, my brother," said his uncle gruffly at his side, more willing to risk the man's ire than Keiji. "Why did you call us here? And why is the rest of the council not present?"_

 _Oroku Tasuro stood, shoulders squared and arms behind his back. Despite the heaviness of his grim features, he appeared more feverishly excited than Keiji had ever seen him._

" _Because I have great news," he said, his voice low and rumbling. "I have received word only a half hour ago, from seven other ninja clans across Japan. They have agreed to journey to our district to ally with us. Their numbers will more than triple ours."_

 _Keiji's brows furrowed. "To what purpose, Father?"_

 _Tasuro turned to face Keiji, and his dark eyes gleamed. "We bring them here because in two weeks time, we – the great Oroku clan – will make a final attack on the Hamato clan, in the dead of night... at their home estate." He looked to his son and brother, hands curling at his sides, triumph already permeating his thoughts._

 _Keiji straightened, his hands falling to his sides. "And the innocents? The servants, the children?"_

 _"Kill them!" roared his father. "Let every last Hamato and Hamato ally die in agony and shame for their disgrace!" He paced the front of the dojo, his eyes wild. "Tell no one, not even others in our clan. This must be kept secret until the last possible moment, so we will have the element of surprise."_

 _He stopped in front of Keiji._

" _We will kill them all."_

 _xx_

* * *

Author's Note: Action starting in the next chapter! Whoo!


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Story's almost done, guys! Thanks for sticking with me. Hope to hear from you guys about this chapter... I'm pretty excited about it. :p

Wasn't sure whether to up the rating for this story, but this chapter is rated **M for adult content.**

xx

* * *

The warm months settled pleasantly.

April continued her part-time job, while Shen did her best in school. And between the time spent with just the two of them, shopping or enjoying movies at home, there was time with the boys. It was a routine that, despite its consistency, never seemed to become dull or tedious, if only because of the company April enjoyed.

Saki made a conscious effort to reel in any jealousy, and April likewise kept from making any moves that seemed overtly offensive to him. After all, he shouldn't have to be the only one who watched himself, she reasoned. There was no need to go out of her way to make him feel sensitive. And honestly, April had no desire to be around anyone else.

The man who had been The Shredder in her own time was her very own Saki here.

He teased her, but he didn't baby her. He never questioned her abilities or her talents. He emphasized to her, above all, that she had the strength to do whatever it was she put her mind to.

"If I had a daughter," he told her one day, as they ate their lunch at a leisurely pace, "I would train her to be a kunoichi."

"Really?" April asked, before blinking awkwardly as she realized she should have been less surprised than anyone to hear such a thing. It was possible that Shredder had trained Karai purely out of revenge, but then again, perhaps not. He hadn't known Yoshi was alive, not until New York. And why wouldn't he raise his children as he had been raised? It was what Splinter had done.

"My father does not put much faith in female ninja," Saki admitted. "But I believe they are as capable as they wish to be, just like men."

April smiled, but it was a bit uneasy, and she simply shrugged.

"That's true, I think. But it applies to more than ninjutsu, right? That wouldn't be all you'd teach her?"

Saki glanced at her curiously. "I hope not," he said earnestly, and April relaxed. Not Shredder, she reminded herself.

Not yet. Not _ever_.

Thanks to her.

* * *

Xx

April and Saki left early one Saturday morning, though he wouldn't tell her where they were heading.

"Come on!" April admonished, tugging on the arm he wasn't using to steer. Saki's old truck bumbled its way up the mountainside, having left the city behind over half an hour ago, and now only an expanse of deep green forest surrounded them. The sun shone brilliantly overhead, occasionally dropping in through gaps in the branches of very old, tall trees. Saki had turned off the radio and rolled down the windows, and the warmth of the wind and smells of the forest rolled in and around the cab of the truck, inviting and natural.

"Tell me!" April exclaimed again, but Saki only shook his head at her, the very picture of patience.

Finally, after another twenty minutes, the truck detoured from the unpaved road and slipped through an opening in the trees. The tires crunched over gravel and the darkness of the forest peeled away to reveal a sunny blue sky, seemingly all around them, and beyond that, far below, and even bluer ocean than April had ever seen.

Her lips parted, and Saki smirked before getting out of the truck and reaching out a hand for her. April followed with a squeal, but she quelled her rush when she realized just how high up they were.

"Wow..." she murmured, as she and Saki stepped away from the line of trees to the clearing on the edge of a great cliff. Hundreds of feet below, water pushed and pulled against the rocky walls, and when they pulled back, revealed sandbars, no doubt filled with tiny ocean creatures.

April walked cautiously to the edge, her heart humping. It was so beautiful, and as much as she wished for a camera in that instant, she knew photos would never do this place justice.

"This is the southwestern coast," Saki explained to her, his fingers curled in hers. He nodded to the water. "And that is the Pacific Ocean. The other side of the islands is in the Sea of Japan, and further south than that is the East China Sea." April edged closer, peering over the edge of the cliff. It was not quite so high as she had first though, but it was still staggering, and she carefully moved away. Large rocks jutted out of the water, and when she squinted, she could see fish occasionally jumping up and slapping against them.

"It's amazing," she said, smiling back at him. "I've never seen anything like it."

Her eyes raised to the tops of the cliffs, all covered in lush green, and her eyes landing on something tall and white. "Look!" she beamed. "A lighthouse! And caves! There's so much down there, Saki. I wonder if anyone ever goes down there and explores it."

"Sure they do," he said, letting go of her hand and moving to the edge of the dropoff. "Yoshi and I often came down here as children. And we would jump off this _very_ cliff." April narrowed her eyes.

"No way."

"Yes, yes." Saki toed closer to the edge, far too near for April's liking, and he responded to her glare with a grin of his own.

"Saki, don't you dare! You will give me a freaking heart attack! Come away from there!"

"Oh, come on now. This is a little drop, nothing more," he snickered, and then, at last, he relented and held up both hands. "Fine, fine..." he stepped away from the cliff, his back to the edge. April had barely relaxed when Saki stopped his movements, hands still held up in a submissive pose, and she spotted that split-second smirk before he rolled back his entire body and did a back flip straight off the cliff.

"SAKI!" April shrieked, running to the edge before skidding to a stop, her buldging eyes on the turbulent water below. She saw a splash that _might_ have been him, but it was too hard to tell, and she turned and sped down a sandy trail she'd spotted a moment before. Half-running, half-falling, April ran all the way down the length of the rocky face on the barely-there trail, and once she reached the sandy pit at the bottom, she was out of breath and nearly hysterical.

"SAKI!" she screamed again, as water lapped at her ankles from where she stood on a sandbar. "SA -"

"What took you so long?" came a voice behind her, and April whirled to face a grinning Saki, shirtless, soaking wet and too damn smug for April's liking.

"You SORRY son of a -" April leaped at him, but Saki was too fast, and he laughed as he dove out of her attempts to maim him. She did manage to get in a good kick to his shin before he relented.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" he said, holding up hands in an offering of peace. "Relax, I am unharmed!"

"You scared me half to death!"

"Yoshi and I jumped off that same cliff when I was nine!" he exclaimed, unable to stop laughing, and April was forced to stop and inhale deeply just to avoid totally losing her mind. Saki saw his chance to escape and took it swiftly, hurrying back into the water and diving under a wave. He emerged a moment later, still chuckling.

"Come swim!" he offered, as if that made everything better. April folded her arms with a huff, determined to maintain her irritation. It WAS really hot, and she'd just burned through all of her energy running down a damn cliffside, but to give him the satisfaction was just too much.

"I said I was sorry," he pointed out, sounding as contrite as he could manage, which was not nearly enough in April's opinion. She made a face, her chin turned up and away.

"I don't have a swimsuit," she muttered at last, eyeing the water with envy.

"Neither do I," he pointed out, eyebrow raised. April caught his snarky look and cut him yet another glare. Ooh, he thought he was _so_ funny. And he didn't really expect her to get in the water, she could tell. Well, let him be the one surprised for a change.

With a haughty look (that included sticking her tongue out at him), April reached up with as much confidence as she could muster and peeled off her shirt. Then, without pausing to take in the glorious image of his shocked face, she shimmied out of her shorts as well.

 _Thank you god that I chose to wear cute underwear today,_ she thought, her cheeks stained red but her expression resolute. Then, with a smirk of her own, she tossed her clothes aside and jogged into the water, diving right next to him and disappearing underneath a wave.

She popped up behind him a moment later, startling him into turning around.

"Well?" she said coyly. "Let's swim."

* * *

xx

It was an experience April would remember for the rest of her life.

The bright sunny day burst into the water with a million sunspots, twinkling against bright sand and dark, shiny rocks. April and Saki dove deep and scoured the sand, digging up treasures in the form of unusual shells and other odds and ends. They laughed endlessly, losing words to choked mouthfuls of water as they exhausted their bodies moving in and under the waves, sometimes letting their limbs fall lose so the ocean could carry them lazily to other parts of the shoreline.

April jumped up on a series of rocks set up like stepping stones, and Saki followed close behind her, leaping from rock to rock just after her.

"Look!" April exclaimed, pointing at a school of brightly colored fish.

"Oh, there are fish in the ocean," teased Saki. "Call all the scientists."

"Shut up!" she knocked him on the arm before hurrying off, delight giving her energy and pushing her to find a nicely edge rock wall to climb. With Saki behind her, she gripped piece after piece, scaling the wall with waves rushing up underneath her and the wind biting at her still-wet back.

"Go!" Saki encouraged her when she faltered, her body trembling with exhileration and fear when she saw how high up she'd gotten. "You can do it! I am here if you fall!" So April pushed on, heat from the sun pushing into her back and spurning her towards her goal, a ledge some thirty feet above the water.

Finally, she reached it and edged onto the small outcropping of rock, turning shakily until she faced the ocean again and the rock face was at her back.

"Oh, Saki..." she breathed. "I feel like I'm in the sky!"

"Now you have to jump!" he replied, still far below her. "Go! I am here!"

April shrieked as she got close to the edge, her body trembling violently, but she wanted to do it, she wanted to jump. She geared herself up, faltered, and then backed up to take a deep breath. Then, with one last glance at Saki below, April took in a deep breath and jumped straight off the edge.

She screamed all the way down, but when the water rushed up to meet her, Saki was there too and he pulled her back up to the surface before she lost her breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a snicker, pushing back her damp hair.

"That was AMAZING!" April exclaimed, throwing up her arms with a splash. "I jumped! From up THERE!"

"Yes, you did," he said fondly, large hand cupping her cheek.

* * *

Xx

April wasn't sure how so much time could have possibly passed, but they were still in the water when the sun began to dip in the sky and cast it in shades of pink and orange. They swam towards the sandy shore, but Saki stopped at a large, broad rock in the ocean and sat himself upon it, turning to pull up April between his legs with her back against his bare chest.

Water dripped from their skin, wetting the rock and clinging to them in long, languid trails that soaked them from the top of their heads to the tips of their toes. When April fell back against Saki's chest, both of their legs pulled up on the sun-warmed rock, she realized how exhausted she felt. Then Saki's hand reached up and curled at her bicep, and she slowly turned her face towards his, their eyes meeting.

Without speaking, Saki moved the hand at her arm up her damp skin, his fingers spread, searching as they caressed up her neck where her hair stuck to her skin in wet swirls. When his hand found the top of her neck and brushed her jaw, their lips met passionately, eyes closed and minds lost.

April felt her body come alive again, despite the tiresome efforts from earlier, and she reached up an arm to cup the back of his head, desperate to feel him closer. The sensation of his bare skin against hers, something new and frightening, left her dizzy with desire. His other arm snaked around her waist and the heat of his skin against her naked stomach spurned an eletricity in her belly that pushed ever lower.

When his hand gripped her hip, she felt the languid, slow-building crest inside of her encouraging her as Saki had done earlier. To push higher, go further. To achieve that great height she wanted, frightened as she was of it.

April pulled her lips from Saki's just enough to breathe, and their faces hovered close. Saki murmured something in Japanese, and April's mind registered distantly that it was the first time she could remember him forgetting to use English with her, though his words might have been lost to her anyway as he tilted his head and caught her neck in a scorching kiss. Air flew out of April's lungs as she felt his hand move into her hair, gently tilting her head to the side and moving his lips to her bare shoulder. Water lapped at their feet and mist jumped to their bodies, but everything April felt was Saki's hands and lips.

And still it wasn't enough, so she turned carefully on the rock, reluctantly pulling away from his kisses so she could move on the limited space of the rock to face him. Then, with deliberate slowness, she stood on her knees and slipped her hands over his chest until they fell behind him and on his back. The motion brought them close again, and their mouths met hotly. Saki's hands found the backs of her thighs and in one fluid motion, he slipped her knees over his thighs until their hips were pushed flush against each other.

She gasped against his mouth, the unfamiliar sensation of his hardness against her groin shocking her senses. Everything about Saki was firm, from the taut way he held the sculpted muscles of his arms to the ridges in his stomach, and now the evidence of his desire, every bit as ardent as hers, pressed against her in unquestionable yearning.

Their kiss slowed, and they parted only a few inches, the sky outlined a deep pink behind them as the sun dipped into the horizon.

"We can stop," murmured Saki breathlessly, no small amount of effort keeping his hands at bay.

April's eyes remained on his, her entire body trembling in a way that was not all that unpleasant, though it frightened her a little. "Is that what you want?" she whispered.

"No," was his honest reply.

April's heart skipped a bit, and for a moment, she looked to her curled fingers against his chest. Still, it was not because she was taking the time to decide on her answer, only gathering the courage to say it.

"Me either," she murmured, dipping her head towards his again.

* * *

Xx

They slipped out of the water into a rocky alcove, one where the moist sand sat just out of reach of the tide. Saki's arms caught April and pulled her close, his kisses alternating between gentle and deep, passionate and tender as he caught the backs of her legs and laid her against the wet sand. Water pushed in gently, lazily catching up to April's body, cool against the skin that felt as if it were a thousand degrees.

Alone, with only the sound of the ocean and the growing chatter of nighttime creatures, April reached up to Saki and pulled his body flush against hers, filling every inch of space with his skin. Their clothes fell away, and the shadows of the shallow cave offered some courage to April, who tucked her shyness into Saki's body to shield it from view.

He took her arm then, kissing it along the inside from the inside of her elbow to the tips of her fingers, before his own laced there and he brought it up beside her head. April caught his eyes and brought his face close, her body thrumming with need but her inexperience and fear causing her to balk until he dropped his lips to her stomach. The jolt in her stomach brought her back to awareness, erotic pressure building in her groin until she felt his fingers press there.

Their mouths met again, pressing heatedly and growing more fervent as April arched into the touch, unable to decide if she had any control over the way her body reacted to his skilled fingers. Saki coaxed noises out of her with a divine sense of patience until she hooked a leg around his and urged him him against her. Saki's hands left her and slid over her breasts, lips finding a spot just between them as he pressed against her opening. A single moment of fear spiked through April, but the revolt of her body was stronger and she arched her hips up towards him until he was buried inside of her, eliciting a noise from Saki that April cherished with pride.

"April," he exhaled, gathering her body in his arms and continuing his heated kisses, finding her breasts and her shoulder and every inch of her that needed to be touched. As his speed increased, April's hands jumped to the wet sand and curled there, digging in and gripping it for dear life, her lips parted and her head tossed back.

A whimper escaped her, echoing off the cave walls and then falling, lost to the sounds of the ocean. She felt as if a string had gone throughout her entire body, pulling and tugging at the most erogenous parts of her until at last it tightened, drawing a cry from her that was swallowed up by the encroaching ocean.

The rush of sensations overwhelmed her for a moment and April closed her eyes tight, her chest heaving as Saki succumbed with a shout to the wondrous loss of control.

By the time they'd both gotten their breath, the water had pushed up around them and they sat up together, still wrapped in one another's arms. April's throat felt dry and her muscles screamed for sleep, but despite the pain – and the additional pain she would no doubt feel later – she could never remember feeling more content.

"We should get out of here before we drown..." she whispered, the first words spoken in an hour, and even though her face was scarlet at their lack of modesty, she couldn't resist a smile as she turned and pressed her bare chest against his. Being this comfortable with someone was a marvelous feeling, and Saki's smile in return to her, soft and gentle and more loving than anything she'd ever seen, was enough to ward away any doubts she had.

"Yes," he agreed, finding their clothes before they were washed away and then leading her back up the sandy trail to the truck.

* * *

Xx

The ride back home held little conversation, but it was a comfortable, sated silence, settled mostly by exhaustion. In fact, they might have finished the entire ride without a single conversation had it not been for Saki stopping at a stop sign in the center of town.

" _Where have you two been_?"

Saki jumped at the sudden appearance of Yoshi at his window, before relaxing and glaring at his brother.

"And why are you wet?" Yoshi continued suspiciously, his hands gripping Saki's open driver's side window. Saki opened his mouth to reply, but another voice cut him off.

"Stop bothering them about their date, Yoshi!" Shen shouted from the other side of the truck cab, where she had suddenly popped up next to April, nearly startling her into falling over on her seat. "What they do is none of your business!"

"Date!" Yoshi exclaimed from his side of the truck. "How do you know they were on a date?"

"Oh, I forgot," Shen said sarcastically, before pointing heatedly across the inside of the cab, forcing April to learn far back in her seat. "You wouldn't know a date if it took one of your stupid nunchucks and hit you in the face!"

Saki slumped against his seat, his hand over his face.

"What? Are you talking about yesterday?" Yoshi argued incredulously from his side. "I told you, I showed up! You weren't there!"

"You were _late, Yoshi!"_

"Only by a few minutes! I was busy with -"

"Training, oh yes, believe me, I know!"

Yoshi made a disgruntled noise. "You know what, you keep holding everyone to your ridiculous standards of time, you're going to end up a lonely old cat lady!"

Shen gasped dramatically. "Oh, you little – Come on, April, we are going home!"

"I, uh -" April glanced at Saki, who rolled his eyes and beckoned for her to go with the irate Shen, though he did pause to squeeze her hand affectionately. "Okay, then!" April got out of the truck cab at the stop sign, but by now, Yoshi had realized his mistake. Instead of rounding the front of the vehicle, he leaped straight up and jumped onto his stomach on top of the truck cab, sliding to Shen's side and giving her his most desperate look.

"GET OFF MY TRUCK, YOSHI!"

"Please Shen, I'm sorry," Yoshi said, ignoring Saki. "I should not have said that."

"You have _thirty_ _seconds_ to get off my truck!"

"Shut up, Saki! I'm trying to make amends!" And then - "Seriously, Shen. Please. Go to the festival with me in a few days."

"I'll think about it," Shen folded her arms haughtily.

"Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty," Saki dead-panned, before gunning the truck forward, and the girls took a jump back just before Yoshi rolled off the back of the truck and landed in the bed with a high-pitched shriek and thud.

Batting away the cloud of dust left behind by Saki's truck, April and Shen exchanged amused glances.

"Well," said April jubilantly. "I had a _wonderful_ day."

They linked arms, and Shen grinned.

"Oh, do tell."

* * *

xx


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Wow, those responses from last chapter! Ha! I love it. Only a few chapters left...

And if you're like me and like a soundtrack to go with your story, I'd have to say that the Legend of Korra soundtrack goes pretty damn well with this story. It's beautiful music anyway, but it really fits well here. Give it a listen. The soundtrack from the first series, Avatar: The Last Airbender is also wonderful.

* * *

"Surprise!"

Yoshi uncovered Shen's eyes and gestured proudly, even as April and Saki snickered nearby at Shen's shocked face. "Yoshi!" she exclaimed, her face shining with a brilliant smile. "You built me a garden!" She rushed over, looking at the large, carefully constructed flowerbox, ready with tools and seeds, as well as the tall, sturdy garden shed they'd moved to yard behind Shen's house while she was in class. It had been a dangerous endeavor, what with all the _incidents_ that always seemed to happen with Yoshi around, but they'd gotten it done.

And watching Shen's magical delight, which lit up Yoshi's face in a way unlike any other, made it feel worth the while by far.

* * *

April had watched, at a distance, what seemed like an almost unachievable sense of familiarity and ease between couples in her life. She had wondered what it was like to look at another person and see an extension of yourself, to understand their thoughts and anticipate their emotions. To read them without trying and react to them without thinking.

It was not always an easy thing to maintain, she had noticed, but this did little to diminish it in April's eyes. In fact, the struggle to hold on to something so precious made it all the more dear to her. She hadn't been old enough to appreciate the love between her parents, having been so young when her mother disappeared, but she could still see it in her father's face when he spoke of her.

Things were always one catastrophe to the next in New York, and for the last few years, April had secretly – alone, in the wee early hours of the morning – worried that she'd never have that with someone. That her life was too much for anyone else to handle. That she would never have that deep sense of fulfillment with anyone. It was a vain and silly thing for her to think about, with so many life-threatening situations jumping at her throat, but it was there, nonetheless.

"Open your eyes," said Saki.

April opened her eyes as she was bid, but it took her a moment to see anything at all. After a moment, she realized was peering out of the dark holes of a mask Saki had placed over her head. Giggling, she turned dazedly to a mirror and peered at it, finding the white mask with bright, sweeping strokes of red and gold over her face.

"Wow," she breathed, smiling behind the frozen expression.

"It is called _kitsune_ ," Saki told her, gently pulling her hair out of the band keeping the mask in place. "Japanese for fox. The appearance of kitsune can mean several things. They are seen as gods, or messengers of the gods, possessing great wisdom and magic..." April leaned back, her smile growing as she felt his warm chest against her shoulderblades, his arm moving around her waist as he spoke softly over her shoulder.

"Or," he continued with a devious smirk, "they can be tricky, as beings who cause mischief. Sometimes, they even take on the guise of beautiful women, sent to decieve humans who cannot resist them." His lips brushed her temple.

"Is that what you think I am?" April murmured, lifting a hand to push the mask back from her face, to the top of her head, so their lips could brush. "A trickster sent here to seduce you?"

Saki's dark eyes flickered with amusement. "You are both the good omen and the wise spirit. And if you must seduce me... then so be it." April giggled, turning in his grasp to pull him close, fingers curled in the front of his clothing, as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. Even when their lips parted, they lingered close, unwilling to move away in their moment of relative privacy outside Shen's home, late in the evening.

"Wear it tomorrow for the festival," he told as he left, leaving her with her _kitsune_ mask. "Perhaps you will bring an extra bit of luck to our family's offerings at the shrine."

April pulled the mask down over her face, once more a stone-faced fox layered in shades of red, black and gold, and waved good-bye to Saki as he left.

* * *

"This particular festival is always largely hosted by the Hamato clan," Shen explained as she and April walked to the center of town, where the festival began. "So you could also say it is a great tribute to them, and for all they do for the town. Their crest is always everywhere."

April turned her face to the warm sky, enjoying the tender rays of sunshine. This morning, she had looked at the calendar and realized it was the first day of September. In just a few days, she will have been in Japan for an entire year. It was strange, and yet at the same time, she wasn't sad to think on it. She missed her family, but she couldn't wish away her time here. Not for anything. When she had felt enough of the sun's rays, she slid her mask back on.

"Speaking of Hamatos..." April grinned, nodding in the direction of the market, where Saki and Yoshi emerged side-by-side.

"Oh, so he can show up on time for this," Shen rolled her eyes, but she'd forgive Yoshi for that already, and her expression softened as soon as he was near. The boys flanked their sides, walking instep with them.

"April has a mask!" Yoshi exclaimed. "Ah, kitsune. How appropiate, considering how you have stolen my brother's heart!"

April and Saki both flushed scarlet, and Shen knocked Yoshi in the arm, making him laugh and jump away from her. "Oh, I am only teasing them," he said, flashing them both a furtive smirk. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this opportunity. I was starting to worry about Saki, you know. He does not get out much!"

"Will you stop your mouth for one minute?" Saki moved around the two girls to jump at Yoshi, who darted out of the way, and the two continued to slow down the girls by leaping around them in attempts to tackle each other. Shen and April shared a secret laugh.

"Honestly," Shen patted April's arm sympathetically. "Those boys are so easily distracted!"

"Tell me about it," April nodded, side-stepping Yoshi who nearly rolled right into their path. The girls continued walking, with Yoshi and Saki horsing around somewhere nearby, and the foursome closed in on the town center where the festival was being held. The sounds slowly began to drift to them, shouting and clanging, the smell of smoke drifting up from fires.

April stopped, her brows furrowed. Something didn't feel right. She lifted her hand to her chest, brushing the key that still sat at the long end of a ribbon under her shirt.

"What is it?" asked Shen, her smile slipping away.

"Something doesn't feel right," April whispered, her blue eyes looking out to the crowd of buildings in front of them. The boys came to a stop next to them, unaware of April's distress, and Yoshi hurried forward.

"Come on, already. We are almost -" He stopped as well, strange sounds meeting his ears. Saki became alert at his side, and together, the four of them hurried forward around the corner, with Yoshi and Saki out front. As soon as the slope that led towards the center of town became visible, they stopped abruptly.

"What on earth?" Shen gasped, her eyes wide with horror.

A ghastly scene burst to life in front of them, a landscape of fire and mayhem that grew with every passing second in the large town square. The shouts they'd heard, the smell of smoke. They were not from the merrymaking of the festival, but of its ongoing destruction.

And what was not being choked by flame fell under the weapons of black-clad ninja, fleeing villagers barely escaping the sharp edge of a blade or falling debris.

A man ran past them, crying out desperately as he fought to get out of his burning robe, and Yoshi stepped forward, lips parted and eyes wide just as a shrine bearing the Hamato crest erupted into flame in the center of the festival. People cried out and ran away, small explosions rocking the ground beneath them as market stalls that were not already on fire blew to bits. The foursome crouched to the ground under the heat of one, and as they straightened, a banner bearing the familiar crest of their clan came flying through the air and landed at their feet, still alight with fire.

"They're attacking," April whispered in horror, and as the ground jolted with the force of yet another explosion, dark figures stepped out of the flame, surrounded by ash and destruction. One man in the center, taller and sturdier than all the rest, lifted a face covered by a black ninja mask and pointed from several yards away at Yoshi and Saki.

"Foot Clan," Saki snarled, his features suddenly fearsome.

"We must find Father!" Yoshi said, gripping his arm, but Saki shook him off.

"Father can handle himself!" Saki argued, turning to April and Shen. "We need to make sure they get out of here!" Yoshi staggered, torn with indecision, but he ultimately nodded.

"Yes, let's go," he said, with one last anguished look at the burning shrine, his arm reaching to Shen as they turned and ran back the way they'd come. They'd scarcely gotten more than twenty feet when three vehicles rolled out in front of them, blocking their paths. The boys skidded to a stop, each standing protectively in front of the girls. April's heart pounded painfully against her chest, and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw the other dark-clad ninja approaching behind them.

More piled out from the vehicles, all masked, all cloaked under black, and each wearing the Foot clan symbol April had seen so many times. Saki and Yoshi backed up, alert eyes ticking over every warrior as they took careful, measured steps in their direction, and April thought it was because they were trying to keep away from the ninja.

Instead, they were closing in around April and Shen. As soon as they were all close, they stopped, with Saki turned towards the ninja in the back and Yoshi facing the front.

The ninja paused, the constant soundtrack of screams and stalls collapsing against the brutal force of fire all around them.

Saki's eyes narrowed deeply, but as April watched his face, she detected a hint of excitement.

" _Anata wa kore nozonde imasen. Anata wa ushinawa remasu_ ," he barked to the Foot clan. The answer of the other ninja was to pull out their many weapons, spiked ends scraping the gravel road, swords glinting in the light.

Saki and Yoshi, back to back, watched with unyielding expressions.

"I tried to warn them, Yoshi," said Saki, no hint of fear in his voice, anticipation making his features contort into a predatory mask. "They have ignored me."

Yoshi at his side was much more resigned, and when he spoke, his voice was low and grieved, edged with undeniable anger. "Then show them their mistake," growled Yoshi, his eyes sharp.

"What are they doing?" Shen whispered tearfully. "They don't even have any weapons!"

April reached down to grasp Shen's hand and bent her head low. "You might want to stand clear," she gulped, and when Saki flashed her a quick meaningful look, she nodded and beckoned to her waist, where her tessen lay hidden.

The Foot Clan ninjas all seemed to move at once, menacing weapons at the ready, numbers giving them strength. As soon as they were near enough, Yoshi and Saki burst into action, moving straight at one another and then dipping low, with Yoshi flipping over Saki on the opposite side to catch the wrist of a ninja and twist the sword out of his hand. The ninja yelped and twirled out of Yoshi's grasp skillfully, only to get pushed in the direction of Saki's high kick, which soared through the air and snapped his neck.

Yoshi caught the sword in mid-air and turned, turning it swiftly in his hand and landing it in the gut of another, as Saki turned in another fluid motion, small knives appearing in one hand then flying through the air. They landed directly in the head of three ninja, knocking them off their feet, never to rise.

"Saki!" Yoshi shouted, turning and tossing another short sword to Saki, who caught it and turned to slice through the neck of a Foot clan ninja as it attacked to his left, and then another to his right, but Yoshi was there and the two moved in tandem to roll away and drive their swords deep into the chests of men that fought to kill them, dark-clad warriors.

And behind April, more men approached, and she turned meekly to them for just a moment, her eyes low and her body trembling. As soon as one was close enough, her features twisted into a snarl and she whipped out her tessen.

"YAH!" she shouted, twisting her body into a violent throw that knocked three of the Foot Clan ninja to their backs. "Hide, Shen!"

"I will not leave you!" Shen argued from her side, but she was forced out of the way by a vicious attack from from the others, and April snatched her tessen out of the air just in time to meet them blow for blow. One came at her blazing, bo staff in hand, but April jumped to the side and caught it with her tessen, quickly turning and slicing through it with her tessen. Before the ninja had a chance to recover, she smashed a foot into his chest and snapped out her arm, sending the tessen at another.

 _Thanks Donnie,_ she thought quickly, before turning just in time to see Yoshi kick out and snap a broken and charred piece of wood that stuck out of the ground like a spike, a bit of a broken market stall, and he caught mid-spin in the air before turning and burying it in the chest of a ninja that sought to stab him. Saki appeared directly behind him, anticipating his brother's every move, and just as Yoshi ducked and pulled away, Saki took his place with a sword in each hand.

 _Clang! Cling! Bang!_

Saki struck blow after merciless blow against two ninja, his body twisting side to side and ducking low as he moved out from under one hit and avoided another, his focus a single-minded entity with seemingly no limit. As soon as he had them backed up against a wall, Yoshi appeared like a flash of lightning, kicking soundly through the air and catching them both across the face.

"Hamato Yuuta has trained his offspring well," came a deeply accented voice behind them, and just from his carefully practiced movements, April knew this was no young man like the other ninja. In his hands he twirled a pair of identical _kama._ The other ninja had fallen or fled, and now only he remained, though he did not seem concerned.

"Who are you?" Yoshi hissed, his features alight with fury. "Show your face!"

The man reached up at Yoshi's request, tugging down his mask. "I am Oroku Gaji," he declared, his aged face set in deep, unfriendly lines. "Oroku Nagi was my nephew, one whom I raised for boyhood after his father was murdered by your father."

Saki and Yoshi glared, unmoving.

"And now," continued Oroku Gaji. "I am here to avenge him. To avenge my brother, Oroku Keiji. To bring back the glory of the Foot clan." He settled them all with an offensive gaze. "You thought you had won your little war, but you are boys."

He scowled deeply at them, his hands tight on his weapon. "You have no idea what war truly is."

Saki growled at Yoshi's side. "Then show us, old man. We will be more than glad to show you a grave in return." He moved at the man but Yoshi's arm stilled him, and April felt Shen stir at her side, emerged from the rubble behind them. The man's gaze turned to the girls, though his eyes lingered on April. His sneer was one of the most frightening things April had ever seen.

"Go ahead and weaken your foul bloodline," he said with disgust. "It will not extend much further anyway."

Saki leaped at the man, but he disappeared in a smoke bomb, and he let out an enraged yell. "We have to find him!" Saki whirled to face Yoshi, but the elder of the two simply shook his head, rage fading from his eyes as he looked back over the destroyed festival, the injured and dead.

"For now," Yoshi said, a tremble to his voice. "We make certain our family is alive." He looked to Saki, and April's chest tightened. "Then we deal with the Foot Clan."

* * *

They went to the Hamato household to check on the others, each as silent as the other, unable to voice their despair or discomfort. Yoshi and Saki's father was alive, as were most of their other family, though villagers had been lost to the damage of the festival. All in the name of an attack on the Hamato Clan. All by the Oroku.

As soon as their father was gone, Yoshi shook his head at Saki, grief and anger etched into his posture. "This is all your fault," he muttered, and Saki looked to him sharply.

"Oh? And siince when do I control the Foot Clan?" he snapped, and April wished desperately she and Shen were at home, because she had the distinct impression that Yoshi and Saki had forgotten they were there.

"You killed Oroku Nagi!" Yoshi exclaimed, eyes blazing. "If you had simply done what I asked you to, this would not be an issue!"

"Oroku Nagi killed our uncle and disgraced our family," Saki hissed.

Yoshi tossed out his arms angrily. "Why does everything have to be a _personal_ _war_ with you, Saki?" He shouted in a way April had never heard before, despair dipping at his tones. "You always do this! You take things into your mind and you twist them, you use them to fuel this – this anger, you use them to justify these things that you want to do! You wanted to kill Oroku Nagi, you only needed what you thought was a good enough reason!"

Saki stepped up to Yoshi, their snarling faces close. "You may be too cowardly to stand up to them, but I am not. If it is a fight they want, I will give it them, and I will not hesitate as you do now! _"_

"You could have died today!" Yoshi cried out. "Do you realize that?"

Saki scoffed. "I would not have died," he sneered. "I am _strong_ and - " But Yoshi cut him off, stepping up close to him again and speaking in low, heated tones.

"The only thing needed for death," growled Yoshi, "is a single moment of life." He prodded Saki in the chest, making the other glare deeper, his hands in tight fists. "You are not invincible," continued Yoshi through gritted teeth. "And you cannot fight this entire clan alone. You cannot declare war on our behalf. And yet you still took Oroku Nagi's life in your hands and _destroyed_ it because _you_ felt slighted! _You_ felt insulted! So do not say this is for the clan, because it is not!"

"You are a puppet," Saki seethed. "You have your own face, but your thoughts, your motives, everything you do is just a set of lines and directions given to you by Father! So that you may BE him, so that you may do his bidding! Perhaps Father does not always know what is best, Yoshi. Perhaps he is too old and weak to lead our clan any further."

"Do not say that about him," Yoshi's voice trembled. "You should be grateful for everything he has ever done for us. You show show him your eternal loyalty and thanks for his service to us and our clan! Not betray him by acting on your own selfish impulses, endangering the lives of the people we love for your vendetta! For your thirst for blood!"

Saki shook his head, a mirthless chuckle escaping him. "You are a fool, Yoshi. You are blinded by what you believe is honor and loyalty," he turned to glare at him, eyes dark. "but it is actually a failure to live up to your potential. A refusal to admit that I am willing to do what is _necessary_ while you wait around to be told what is _right."_

Yoshi lowered his eyes, his shoulders curled forward. After a few moments of silence, he shook his head, his eyes closing briefly. "I cannot reason with you anymore, Saki" he whispered sadly.

Across from him, his brother stared, his expression unmoving. At last, he straightened from his spot and moved to cross in front of Yoshi on his way out of the door. "No," he agreed flatly. "You cannot."

He turned as he left, arms spread wide. "Imagine that," he said loudly, drawing the eyes of the others. "Something the great Hamato Yoshi cannot do!"

With that, he disappeared through the door.

* * *

Later that evening, April and Shen stayed at the Hamato estate in a guest room, unwilling to go back to Shen's home so close to where the festival had been. Hamato Yuuta welcomed them, albeit stoically, before leaving them with a servant to show them to their room.

Yoshi appeared just before they went to bed, his expression as forlorned as April had ever seen it.

"Hello," he said weakly, with a half-attempt at a smile. The girls paused in their motions at the bed and looked to him, and Yoshi entered the room alone, a long scratch on his arm from the fight being the only sign of injury. "I just wanted to make sure you two were alright before I went to bed."

The girls glanced at one another, and April stepped forward, touching Yoshi's wrist. "We're fine," she said softly. She glanced at Shen, who gave her a subtle nod, and April stepped out of the room. Yoshi watched her go, but when Shen came to stand in front of him and draw him to sit on the edge of the bed, he followed her and gave her his full attention.

April paused at the door, alone in the dark corridor.

"The better question is," came Shen's soft, soothing tones. "Are _you_ alright?"

Yoshi paused, and April could see, in her mind's eyes, Yoshi looking to Shen's face and finding comfort there. "I am..." he trailed off, his hands in his lap. Shen reached over, as April peeked through the gap, and took both of Yoshi's hands in hers. He leaned into the touch, a soft noise of despair escaping him.

"I am fine," he managed at last, his eyes squeezing shut as they had done before, but they did not quite keep the single tear at bay. Shen's eyes watered and she tucked her face into his shoulder, prompting him to curl his arms around her and pull her close.

"I am sorry," Shen whispered tearfully.

"For what?" asked Yoshi. "You did not cause any of this."

Shen pulled away enough to touch his jaw, her fingers tracing the line of it gently. "I am sorry because..." she inhaled shakily. "Because I always thought you desired this type of thing. I thought you wanted to fight." Tears rolled down her cheek. "But I can see you took no enjoyment in what happened today." She pressed her face close to Yoshi's, their damp cheeks touching.

"I am sorry," she repeated desperately, her thumb stroking his jaw.

"Oh, Shen," Yoshi curled her further into his embrace, and they were silent for a few minutes, simply drawing strength from one another as they sat there.

"Do you think your brother will be alright?" Shen asked after a long moment, and Yoshi's deep, shaky breath was the only warning before he poorly stifled a sob.

"I am not sure he will ever be alright again," was Yoshi's pained reply.

* * *

 _Oroku Keiji awoke with a start._

" _Master Keiji!" someone shouted from the hallway, and Keiji sat straight up in his bed, sleep slowing him only for a moment. A man appeared at the door to his bedroom, his chest heaving. "They are attacking!" the man shouted in alarm, his hands bracing him against the doorframe. "The Hamatos are attacking and they are killing every -" A gurgle stopped him mid-sentence, an arrow firmly planted in the man's neck as he slumped to the ground._

 _Keiji's eyes widened, his body seizing with fear and disbelief. No, no. This could not be happening. This was not how it was supposed to happen._

" _The boys!" his wife said at his side, jumping up from their bed and tripping over her nightgown until Keiji pulled her up from the floor and snatched up his sword in a single motion._

" _Go find them! Get them out!" he commanded, but no sooner had they stepped up to the door but another arrow flew in, this one finding his wife's chest and dropping her to the ground. Keiji stared for barely a moment before an outraged cry broke loose from his chest, and he burst out of the door of his bedroom, sword raised. Hamato ninja crowed his home, and shouts grew louder from outside. The crashing of doors and violent movements of bodys sounded throughout the estate, and Keiji added to the noise with one furious yell after another as he sliced down ninja after ninja._

 _He tried to fight his way to the corner of his home where his sons were, but he was forced outside by a group of fighters. They swung at him time after time, and he batted them away, anger and fear for his children pushing him to fight like a ferocious animal._

 _Outside, the air was deceptively cool and dark, not even the early hours of the morning yet twinkling in the sky. He turned with one hit, spinning into a column of the house. There were so many! His sword was coated with blood, his bare torso sprayed with the same, and yet he pushed further and further, trying to find any way back into his home. To kill as many of these Hamatos as possible, but also save his children, get them away._

 _Slicing through one last ninja near him, Keiji finally winced, his hand jumping to his side and coming away with his own blood. The wound at his side was great, but he hadn't noticed it while fighting. Now, the pain of his erupted throughout his body and he staggered, his mind becoming cloudy and disjointed._

 _No... he thought. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to go... like this._

 _He heard someone shout his name, and his body froze, his eyes wide as he turned._

 _As soon as his eyes landed on Hamato Yuuta, a fury the likes of which he had never felt burned through him, and he let out an angry cry, charging at him with all of his might._

 _This is all your fault, he thought. This is all the fault of Hamato Yuuta._


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: This is the second to last chapter, guys. Get your game faces on. I know some of these chapters have been slow, but these last two... will not.

Also, I _highly_ encourage anyone wanting a soundtrack for this chapter to listen to youtube video titled "Avatar Soundtrack - Epic Music Mix : The Legend of Aang and The Legend of Korra." The exact pace of that music is perfect for this chapter. The emotional aspects of what follows will certainly be heightened by the music.

Enjoy.

* * *

The night should have ended then, but it didn't.

April left the corridor in order to give Shen and Yoshi some privacy, and her quiet pacing through the darkened home led her to the front door, where the intricate woodwork e extended to a patio outlined with great arches. As she walked outside, her face turned up against the moonlight and she inhaled, desperately trying to find relaxation and pull it into her muscles, so that her arms and joints could relent in their anxiety. Everything on her felt wound tight, and no deep breath felt fully expanded in her chest. The weight she carried there was too much.

She reached up, brushing the key under her shirt. Even when she sensed someone behind her, she did not turn. Saki appeared at her side, his stern expression following hers to the sky.

"I thought you'd gone," she said.

Saki's jaw grew tighter, but he didn't answer, only dropping his angry gaze to the line of trees in front of the desolate home. "I only want to protect what is mine," he said at last, though the sincerity of his words was lost to his harsh, bitter tones. "Why is that so wrong?"

April turned her head in his direction. "I think everyone is just trying to keep calm," she said softly. "They want to protect what is theirs, too. That includes you."

"Then perhaps," he said, "I do not need to belong to them anymore."

Exhausted, April only dropped her head and stood next to him, her arms folded over her stomach, chillbumps on her arms despite the warm weather. They stayed that way for nearly half an hour, before Saki seemingly snapped out of his dark trance, and he turned April inside to usher her back to her room. "You need sleep," he told her, leading her to the room. April couldn't argue, and so she followed behind Saki as he opened the door and led her in, only to bump in to him when he stopped suddenly.

"Shen!" Saki exclaimed, and April peered around him to see Shen, mouth gagged and her arms tied roughly behind her, her eyes wide with fright.

Yoshi was no where to be seen, but the side table was overturned and the window cracked.

As soon as April bent and yanked away Shen's gag, the other girl sobbed, her cheeks wet with tears. "They took him!" she rasped out, letting Saki help her stand before she grabbed his arm. "We were just about to say good-night, and then these men rushed in through the window and – and they did not grab Yoshi, they grabbed me! And they held a knife to me and forced Yoshi to submit! It all happened so fast, and then they were gone! They took him! Those Foot Clan _bastards_ , they took him!"

April curled the trembling Shen in her arms, but panic flooded her limbs as she looked over Shen's shoulder at Saki, who stood holding the gag tight in a hand fisted with rage. "Saki..." April said, but he had already tossed the gag away, and his expression was nothing short of enraged, eyes shining and hands clenched.

"I will kill them!" he shouted, ripping the door of the bedroom with such force that the screens ripped and tore. "I will kill those Foot clan ninja, I swear to every ancestor!"

"Saki!" a sharp voice interrupted the tirade, and Saki turned his heaving chest, his red face to Hamato Yuuta. The weathered man entered, his expression deeply forlorn, his hands resolute and firm on the top of a cane. He looked to Saki, who scrambled for control of his rage, and Hamato Yuuta stepped forward to place a hand on Saki's arm.

"They did this in the hopes to force us to act rashly. They thought, with Yoshi in their grips, we would attack without plan or organization. But we will not."

"We will get your brother back," he told his son firmly. "And we will bring the full force of the Hamato Clan down on the Oroku and all its allies. But the only way we can do this is together. _As a clan_. Do you understand, my son?"

Saki turned his eyes to the elder man, and April witnessed his reluctant submission, his changing expressions varying between hurt, rage, concern and acquiescence to the leader in his life.

"Yes, Father," he murmured in trembling tones. "We will kill them all. Together."

* * *

It was torture to wait overnight, knowing that Yoshi was in the hands of the Foot Clan.

April had never seen Shen cry so much, and she wondered if her friend would ever get to sleep. "This is my fault," she sobbed over and over again. "If something happens to him..."

"It's not your fault," April told her, over and over again without tiring, because Shen needed to hear it. It was the truth. This was the inevitable course of events, one that had begun when the Oroku Nagi re-entered town and the dispute flared to life again, brilliant and destructive.

The next morning, Hamato Yuuta gathered the other ninja and prepared them with weapons, masks and the scarlet uniform Yoshi and Saki often wore. In her room, April stood staring down at her own, the very same Hamato Yuuta had given her when he'd mentioned, soon after the shrine bombing, that he thought she might help their clan again some day.

She didn't have to fight. No one had asked her to.

But if she'd been a Hamato before coming here, she was damn sure counting herself as one now. And so, even though it meant leaving Shen behind at her home in town, April slipped on the fitting garment. She braided her hair tightly to keep it out of her face, and she left the mask around her neck as she took a knife, placing it on one hip, and then her red and black tessen on the other.

One glance in the mirror and she didn't recognize herself.

How had she gone from the girl in New York, the one living alone with her dad and worrying about homework, to this girl she saw in front of her? Was she this person all along? Was this the one Saki had seen from the beginning?

He appeared behind her, dressed and ready with his weapons – two long, curved blades, each with its own smaller hooked blades near the handle. As April peered at him over her shoulder in the mirror, he reached over her and placed something soft around her head.

"Yellow," he said, looking at the headband emblazoned with the Hamato crest, which he tied securely over the top of her braid. "It is what you were wearing the first day I met you."

April turned to him, her eyes turning up to his. He pulled up her mask tenderly to cover her face, and then the matching cowl, which disguised the bright headband but left out her red braid. When his fingers lingered at her temple, April touched her hand to his, silently turning her head so that she could press her face into his palm.

"Let us get Yoshi back," Saki said, and at April's nod, he pulled up his own mask and cowl, and they left the room together.

* * *

They discovered the location of the Foot Clan, high in the mountains, to the west of where the Oroku estate had been.

"They will be alert to an attack at night," Hamato Yuuta had told them, and so they left early in the morning, going in vehicles part of the way before leaving those behind for the favor of stealth. The forest was as dark as April had remembered on the day she'd explored the remains of the Oroku lands, with the high trees eclipsing the bright sun, which felt so strange and out of place in their macabre mission.

The Hamato Clan's fighting ninja numbered less than forty, a fraction of what their numbers had been thirty years before, and together they moved through the trees in uniform silence. April kept near Saki, and so they were at the front, and the first to see the bits and pieces of the ancient temple as it came into view.

Exquisite under a wide ray of sunlight, which pushed through the branches above to shine on the once busy clearing, sat a Buddhist temple that outdated anything April had ever seen. Once, a well-traveled path had come here, but something in the shrine's past had destroyed any easy methods of transport and the temple had been abandoned. All around the clearing, now alone high in the mountains with no pilgrims at its steps, stood tall Buddhist statues with great, peering faces, most of which had crumbled and lost their peaceful expressions to time.

Other arches stood tall, littered with leaves and debris from the forest, weathered by what wind that made it through the trees and stripped of much of its paint. What had once been gold was now a faded brown, and the reds had melted away to the colors of rust, or the aged wood beneath it. Pieces of stone scattered on the otherwise soft earth underfoot, and more still spilled from the entryways to the temple, which extended as high as the tree branches would allow and, from the slope of its front, seemed to go even further underground.

Wide doors on the front, elaborate in the past but now damaged beyond repair, stood open and taunting. Not a soul seemed to stir from within, but the Oroku clan and its brethren were here. April could feel them.

Saki led the other ninja in place of Hamato Yuuta, who for reasons April could not understand, had stayed back at the Hamato estate. Now it was up to Saki, all of eighteen, to direct the lives and battle movements of so many other fighters. Including her.

But he didn't seem afraid. He never hesitated. And neither did they, for all the faith that might have been lost because of his youth. Never once did they question his orders, and he returned their loyalty with unyielding skill that comforted them and gave them confidence.

He held up a hand, stopping their silent approach, and he looked to April for a moment and beckoned to her. She crept closer, and he motioned to six others, whom he directed near the doors. The others he pushed on to the west entrance, which lay down a winding stone staircase that dipped into the earth and now lay covered in mossy green foliage.

Together, April and Saki moved closer, darting in and out of shadows. They made it inside without seeing anyone, and it was then that April nearly gave away their position, her gasp of disbelief so very near bubbling to the surface.

The place was _enormous_ on the inside, and gilded like a palace of old, despite its obvious decay. She and Saki were high on a ledge made of stone cut as carefully and skillfully as any precious diamond. Rounding layer upon layer of various shrines and offerings unraveled below them, and it was here that the Foot Clan gathered, well out of sight of the main doors.

Pacing the elegant banisters, which curled and twisted high in the sky, they looked on with grim faces and sharp weapons, their vigilance unceasing. April glanced at Saki uncertainly, but he was already nearing the edge of their hiding point, and when she followed his gaze, she saw why.

Yoshi, poised on the very bottom floor some thirty feet below. His hands were bound and his head low, mouth covered and knees to the cold stone. Even from their vantage point, April could see he had been injured, and bruises glared up at them from far below. Even the minute movements he made in his confinement seemed pained, and at April's side, Saki seethed behind his mask.

Moving in tandem, they edged around the landing, and Saki looked to her just once more. April nodded. She was ready.

 _We can do this, Saki. We can save Yoshi._

No matter what the cost.

They readied. The signal sounded. Smoke burst from every entrance, and the Foot Clan members shouted and scattered. Saki jumped then, straight from the landing above and plunged through the air, only to shoot a grappling hook at the last second and roll away from the confused arrows and knives that flew in his direction. Tumbling through the black smoke and coming to a crouch on the ground, Saki rounded to the nearest shoulder and cut him off with a kick to his gut, _shchlink!_ His blades sprang free of their holds and he turned, eyes black with fury.

"HAMATOS!" someone shouted, and the other ninja burst in the sides, the fierce clamor of battle creating indistinct echoes of blades against blades, shouts of the fighting and the dying, all leaving Yoshi in the middle of a cloud of smoke with his hands still bound as a Foot clan ninja ran to him with a fierce snarl.

"Your stupid clansmen!" the man shouted, raising his naginata blade at Yoshi's throat. "They will die this day!"

Just then, a blade pierced the air, sticking the Foot clan ninja so forcefully in the throat that he was thrown back off his feet, dead before he hit the ground. Another blade soared, landing directly in the wall over Yoshi's shoulder, so close he had to inch away from its sharp edge.

"GET OUT OF THOSE ROPES ALREADY!" Saki shouted from beyond the mist, and Yoshi flashed a grin to a face he could not see before he jumped up skillfully, ankles still tied.

"Good idea, brother!" A Foot clan ninja burst through the smoke with a sword held high, but Yoshi leaped out of the way, rolled to the knife in the wall and cut his bindings in one swift motion. Then he yanked it from the wall and met the blade of the attacking Foot Clan ninja just once before leaping into the air, kicking the ninja in the chest with his tied feet before hopping back up straight from his back. His blade cut the binds at his feet and, without a second to spare, he buried the knife in the chest of the Foot ninja.

The smoke began to clear and the fighting escalated in earnest, with bodies dropping to the floor like dominos, one after the other and indistinguishable if not for their uniforms. Saki appeared next to Yoshi in a flash, and Yoshi appraised him gratefully for a moment before he looked around.

"Where is April?" he shouted over the noise, just as a series of Hamato ninja pushed forward at April's command, and massive stones from outside had made their way in only to drop from the ledges above, smashing into the elegant railing and crashing through every aged shrine on the way down. The Hamato ninja moved appropriately, as they'd been instructed but the Foot ninja had to scream and dive in order to keep from being crushed.

"GO!" April shouted, before running at full speed and leaping off the terrace to another, where she rolled and tossed back her arm, tessen sharp in hand. With a snap of her arm, the tessen easily caught up with more fleeing Foot ninja, snatching them off their feet and putting them in the debris covered temple remains, lifeless.

Now that the smoke had cleared, Saki and Yoshi saw that the Foot clan numbered more than they'd thought. They'd killed many, but nearly a hundred still remained, and their own numbers were dwindling. "We might lose this battle," Yoshi panted. "I do not know how much longer I can fight." Saki thrust a blade at him.

"Then we will both fight until we are dead," he said fiercely, and Yoshi met his gaze before nodding.

"Let us take as many of them with us as we can," he agreed, before they each turned to the hoard of ninja and sprang forward with matching yells.

Men sank to ground all around them, dead and dying, but Yoshi and Saki fought on. Saki bolted forward, _clang! Cling! Clang!_ He met every blade with one of his own, catching the tip of a man's sword and winding it in his grasp until the arm broke, before he pushed back an elbow, then the handle of his sword to crush the man's face. As soon as the man fell, Saki ducked and Yoshi jumped over him, rolling on the ground only to rise and twist sideways, catching another ninja around his neck and dropping him to the ground.

He lost his sword with another ninja disarmed him from the side, but Yoshi dipped low and caught him around the torso, driving one knee into his stomach before he tossed him with a great heave over his shoulder, where the man met a swift kick of Saki's to his neck, snapping it before he hit the ground.

Another tackled Saki to the ground and his sword fell away from his hand, but with a quick maneuver of his legs, he burst from the entanglement and reeled to meet the man, only to stop when a tessen came flying through the air and cut the man at his chest, dropping him there.

Saki spared a quick glance at April, who nodded to him before catching her tessen again. "Find the leader!" she shouted to him, even as two ninja tumbled in front of her in a frantic brawl and she was cut away from them.

"There is no need!" a voice boomed, and a man in dark garb appeared behind April. She didn't seem him until it was too late, and he seized her from behind, causing Yoshi and Saki to start towards him with angry shouts. "I am Oroku Gaji," the man sneered from behind his mask, even as April fought to escape his hold, her mind fighting off the panic with growing weakness. "And I will avenge my brother and nephews on this day!" With a twist of his arm, he pushed April away from him forcefully, and she felt the floor slip away from her as she tumbled over the edge of a broken landing.

"APRIL!" Saki shouted from above her, but she heard only the whistling of the air around her as she caught the end of one landing with her torso, stabbing pains knocking every ounce of air from her body. She tumbled down, slowed by her hit against the broken rubble and landed a few feet below with a cry of pain.

Still, as she blinked away the aches and the blood from her eyes, she found herself dazed but conscious. "I'M OKAY!" she shouted to Saki, knowing he couldn't see her, but she could hear everything from above. "End this now, Saki!"

Above her, Saki hesitated, his angry threatening to bubble over as he was forced to look away from where she'd fallen. Yoshi stood at his side, his features sharp and severe as they looked upon Oroku Gaji. Around them, crumbling bits of dust and stone fell from the tops of the temple ledges, most of which had fallen away under the brutal assault of the battle. Scores of bodies lay piled on top of one another, or underneath rubble, and only a few ninja on either side still lived.

As Yoshi and Saki looked upon Oroku Gaji, those that could walk cleared out, unwilling to remain in the temple as the three leaders settled their score.

Beaded with sweat and dirt, blood running in rivers down their arms, Yoshi and Saki stood firmly across from the elder ninja. They each gathered the weapons nearest to them – nunchucks for Yoshi and a bo staff for Saki, but Gaji stood with a long, narrow sword with an ornate handle, and he twirled it in his hands before he crouched low and beckoned to them.

They rushed forward with matching shouts, and together they assaulted Gaji from every side, meeting his sword on either side with rapid strikes of their own. Yoshi pushed hard with his nunchucks, batting away the blades of Gaji's sword and turning low, sweeping out a leg in a kick that Gaji avoided deftly, his movements agile despite his age.

A swift fall of Saki's staff caused him to jump left, and then right, but he met the handle of the staff with his blade and pushed Saki away with a shout before slicing through the staff and cutting it in half. Saki immediately twirled the remaining pieces in his hands, his teeth bared and his expression feral, and he plunged one of the remaining ends at Gaji's open shoulder.

The elder ninja escaped, but not unscathed, and Yoshi pressed his advantage but running at him and leaping off one wall, while Saki did the same at the other, their movements synchronized without speaking. Gaji rolled out of the way, but only barely, and Yoshi countered with a tall kick that sent him spinning to the ground. Gaji kicked up his feet and caught Saki's next jab, twisting the younger man's arm and curling him into a headlock. It lasted only a moment before Yoshi bruised the Gaji's hand with a deadly accurate swipe of the nunchucks, and Gaji yanked back his arm with a yell.

In a barely-there second, he jumped away and swept his sword at Yoshi, clearing the other man of his nunchucks and then kicking him to the floor with a swift motion to his chest. Yoshi fell, winded, while Saki recovered his air to the side. He looked up in time to see Gaji sneer at Yoshi once more, his sword raised high to strike at the fallen man.

"YOSHI!" Saki shouted, before jumping up and pushing his body to a run just as the blade descended.

Instead of meeting with Yoshi's vulnerable neck, the blade's descent was abruptly halted by Saki's two bare hands. Gaji's eyes widened as he looked down at Saki, kneeling in front of Yoshi's collapsed form, the blades deep in his palms and the shining edge slick with Saki's blood.

Before Gaji could react, Saki flipped the blade broad-side into his hand, his entire weight pushing off the floor as he shoved the blade back at Gaji and knocked the older man off his feet. A split-second was all Saki needed to pull a knife from his bindings and follow the man's descent to the ground, where he drove a knee mercilessly into Gaji's torso, just below the center of his ribcage. He brought down the knife at Gaji's throat, but the older man's hand shot up to stop him, and Saki was forced to bear down on him with all of his power as Gaji struggled to keep him at bay.

"You are – some kind – of animal," Gaji breathed, even as blood curled down Saki's arm and dripped over the knife, finding its lazy way onto Gaji as they battled strength against strength, the tip of the knife so close to Gaji's throat. "You are – wild!" the man continued, his eyes darting up over Saki's enraged face, and then to the blood tracing a path down his arm.

"You are -"

He stopped, his eyes growing wide and his grip on Saki's arm wavering for the barest moment. His features twisted into one of shock and surprise, and Saki, too, lost his concentration as he tried in vain to see what had disturbed the man.

"You... " Gaji continued, his eyes looking back to Saki with an altogether different emotion. "You are the son of Oroku Keiji."

Saki's brows furrowed, and the air changed in that instant, though the blade remained poised over Gaji's throat. "What are you talking about, old man?" he hissed, moving to further his position, to bear down on Gaji again, but the man took advantage of Saki's distraction and worked his legs underneath him to shove him off to the ground. They both leaped to their feet again quickly, but Gaji did not make a move to attack, only crouched defensively and stared in disbelief.

"You!" he shouted, pointing at Saki. "You are Keiji's youngest son! You have that mark, I remember it from the day you were born!"

"What _mark?"_

"The one on your arm, you blind fool!" Gaji snapped, and in unison, they looked to the dark birthmark on the inside of Saki's wrist, one that April had lovingly traced more than once. Saki's jaw clenched, and he looked to Gaji with an unimpressed grimace.

"You will say anything to save your life, you pathetic coward."

"And why would I lie?" Gaji roared, his features irate. "Why would I claim you as part of my great clan, dishonor myself by trying to include one of Hamato Yuuta's worthless sons? Why would I degrade myself in such a way?"

Saki wavered, uncertainty creeping into his mind, his knife still firm in his hand.

"I held you on the day you were born!" Gaji screamed, nearly manic. "You were my brother's son!" A strangled sob escaped him. "How could I not see it?" he asked to no one in particular, agonized as he looked on Saki. "You are the right age. You even – have his face, you – you look like him. You look like Oroku -"

But his tirade came to an abrupt stop with another knife sailed through the air, catching him in the throat. Saki turned sharply, only to see Yoshi rise, his gait unsteady but his gaze firm. He lowered his arm from where it had been when he'd thrown the knife, and they each looked away from Gaji as he fell to the ground, dead.

They stood far apart, in the crumbled ruins of the temple.

"Is it true?" asked Saki, his voice quiet and imploring.

Yoshi held his side and forced himself to stand straight. Somewhere far below their feet, something strange rumbled, but neither of them minded it. Instead of answering Saki's question, Yoshi turned his head in the direction of the entrance.

"We should go, Saki."

Saki's expression changed, the imploring nature of before replaced by disbelief. What he had not yet been ready to believe now felt firmly cemented by Yoshi's dismissal of it, something that showed distinctly in Saki's face. It shifted then to horror, and he stepped back, away from Yoshi, with his knife loose in his hands. He swallowed tightly, and his eyes turned away. "Is it -" he stopped this time, unable to get the words out, until he tried again and again. Each time more forcefully, each time growing louder and more heated.

"Is it – Is – Is it true... Is it … true?"

When Yoshi refused to answer, Saki shifted his whole body to him, and suddenly his distraught shout filled the temple.

" _IS IT TRUE, YOSHI?"_

Yoshi's lips parted to speak, but he fell silent again, as lost for words as Saki until his brother advanced on him with a single menacing step. "Yes!" Yoshi exclaimed at last, his exhausted body curling in on itself, cuts and other wounds bleeding freely. "Yes, I heard... I overheard mother and father talking once when we were very young, right before she died."

Saki took another step back, his dark eyes wide and shining, his lips parted. The knife wavered as if it might clatter to the floor, but he kept it in his fingers, so tightly that the blade curled high in his palm and cut it anew.

Yoshi took a step towards him, trying desperately to close the gap. "But I did not – I did not realize what they were talking about until I was older -"

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Saki, his voice almost too quiet to hear, his brows furrowed and his glassy eyes darting around the abandoned temple.

Yoshi pleaded with him, "Saki, I did not understand then, and by the time I did, it did not matter to me! You are still my brother! It does not change the way I feel about you."

"Oh," Saki laughed mirthlessly, his throat working over a sob. "So it did not change your feelings, and you assumed it would not change mine? Is that it, Yoshi? You had not a single thought for my feelings? _What I would think_?"

"I did not want you to think something that was not true!" Yoshi argued, reaching out his hands to Saki. "I did not want you feel like you did not belong with us! You do!"

"No," Saki shook his head, keeping every step away from Yoshi that the other took towards him. "No," his expression clouded with anger. "You lied to me. Fa -" he broke off, the word caught in his throat before he pushed forward with an furious growl. "Hamato Yuuta! He lied to me my entire life!"

"Saki, please! Let us just go back home!"

"Why!" Saki roared, fists clenched, layered in blood and sweat. "So I can live a life that is not mine? So I can look to a father who claims me, not as a son, but as a _prize_ he lords over the men he killed?"

"It is not like that," Yoshi cried out in anguish. "He loves you! As I do!"

"I always thought he treated you as his favorite because you were older," Saki murmured, his shoulders trembling, hot tears pushing at the corners of his eyes till they slipped away and mixed with sweat and dirt on his cheeks. "But that is not the truth. It is because _you_ are his son."

He looked up at Yoshi, his features pinched and angry, bitter under the tears.

"And I am not."

Beneath their feet, the ground rumbled in displeasure, stronger this time than before. It caused the already abused temple to tremble from its precarious position on the mountainside, and they each looked up at the ceiling as it dropped dust and bits of stone and wood down on them.

"We should get out of here," Yoshi said, but Saki shook his head.

"I do not care what the mountain is doing," he said, his tears dry and his motions slow and certain. He moved in front of Yoshi without taking his eyes off of him, and he bent low, gathering two swords into his hands. Yoshi watched, unmoving, as Saki stilled in front of him.

"Pick up your weapons," he told Yoshi.

The other stared, his eyes looking to the blades before he met Saki's gaze again. "What are you doing, brother?"

"I said – _Pick up your weapons,"_ growled Saki between clenched teeth. "Because you are not my brother. You and your father poisoned me against my own family, my blood. And because of that, I killed my true brother."

He pointed a sword at Yoshi, the edge trembling in his grip.

"You made a decision, Hamato Yoshi, to betray me. And for that, you will pay with your _life."_

"Do not do this, Saki! I will not fight you!"

"PICK UP YOUR WEAPONS!"

Yoshi fell silent, but his jaw locked in an unwavering look of refusal. Then he reached to his side, where his last knife lay, and he pulled it out. He kept it in his hands for only a moment before he tossed it to the ground and left his hands free, which he held up for Saki to see.

Across from him, Saki yelled out wordlessly. "I will attack you, Yoshi! Even if you are defenseless, I will cut you down for what you've done to me!"

Yoshi lowered his hands but did not move away or act to defend himself, simply standing with sorrow tugging at every inch of his body and face. "I will not fight you," he told Saki in a shaky whisper. "I will not."

Saki heaved, an effort to stave off a sob, even as he raised his blades high. " _You are weak_!" he shouted angrily, even as more tears threatened.

"Without you, brother," Yoshi said, as his voice faltered. "I am."

Saki's hold on his swords wavered, but he refused to put them down, even as Yoshi looked to him pleadingly. "Please," tried Yoshi one last time. "I am sorry for keeping it a secret from you. I thought it was the right thing to do. But please... don't do this, Saki."

Saki swallowed, his aching body screaming at him from where it stood poised, arms raised high with blades in hand.

"I have wondered my whole life why I am so different from you," he said at last, his chest heaving. "And now I know. It is because we were never meant to be brothers. Because we were born as enemies. And I cannot accept that you knew that and did not tell me. I cannot look back anything in our lives -" his voice dropped away with a tremble before resuming. "I cannot see any of it without thinking of the stain of this lie... of knowing that my life is nothing more than Hamato Yuuta's final revenge against Oroku Keiji. That he hated this man so much, he sought to ruin my life... to spite him in the grave."

He pushed his swords higher, with more resolve.

"And you, Yoshi. You are just like him. And you always will be."

Yoshi dropped his chin to his chest and made no motion to his weapons. "I love you, Saki," he said simply, his eyes on the cracked stone at their feet.

The last declaration unhinged Saki, who burst forward with a torrent of emotion that climaxed in an anguished battle cry.

His blade had nearly reached Yoshi's yielding form when the ground beneath them erupted with movement again, and both Yoshi and Saki fell over to the ground, weapons bouncing away and rocks falling from overhead, crashing all around them.

Far below, April let out a scream as stones collapsed from the ledge where she lay, dizzy with her injuries but able to stand.

Saki's eyes went wide. "APRIL!" he shouted, turning away from Yoshi and scrambling to his feet, as the earth continued to shake and tilt beneath them. April looked up in time to see Saki's face appear over the edge, but it had to dart away as more debris fell from the top of the temple. She shrieked as the ground beneath her jolted and jumped, and some terrified part of her mind registered that it was an earthquake.

"Here!" Yoshi shouted, appearing at Saki's side and throwing a rope over to April. He wound it around his arm and held tight, bracing himself against one of the few standing banisters. "Get her, Saki! Go!" Saki glanced at him just once before he took the other end of the rope and leaped down the length of the wall. The temple around them jostled continuously, and one of the walls fell in on itself, creating a cloud of smoke that threatened to choke them all as Saki snatched April around the waist and hoisted her up to the main landing.

Yoshi grabbed her there and brought her up, even as one extra violent shake sent them all to the ground again. "The entrance!" exclaimed Yoshi, pointing. "Go! Now!" The threesome got to their feet and sped towards the door, but piles of rubble and gathering rocks hindered them, even as pieces of the temple rained down all around them, so closes that the chunks of rock burst like bombs and showered them with jagged pieces.

 _BOOM!_

April covered her head, ducking away from a massive stone Buddha statue that tumbled down under the violent shaking, and Yoshi had to run and dive to escape it. The giant stone face smashed into the ground, cutting them all at their legs and forcing them to go around. April's heart pounded painfully in her chest and she feared she'd never breathe well again, but everything was a blur and the entire temple was coming down around them.

Bodies left to a stone burial under the rubble were skipped over, unrecognized and unimportant as they fought to get to the entrance. The earth shifted beneath them and part of the floor fell away, causing them to leap over it in turns, never stopping, never slowing. The skidded to a stop at last when they saw the entrance, a bright rectangle of light that led to the outside, but as they rushed towards it, another shrine fell from above and shattered right in front of them, spraying them all with tiny bits of glass and stone. The ornate décor broke and splintered, causing them to shield their faces and crouch low.

"Come on!" Saki grabbed April's arm, pulling her forcefully around the debris, with Yoshi following close behind. The entrance to the temple wavered under the assault of the earth and they burst through it just as it collapsed in on itself, and within seconds of their arrival outside, the tremulous shaking of the earth finally stopped.

April sank to her knees in the grass, more collapsing just behind her causing her to jump away from the ruins of the temple, now gone.

Saki pulled her up and away from the rubble, and Yoshi glanced at him as they all panted breathlessly, each holding their sides and knees. Yoshi swallowed, as Saki stared at him, unwilling to move away from April, but judging him with his glare all the same.

April forced herself to stand, putting much of her weight on Saki, her mind reeling from the shock as her body threatened to shut down once and for all. She opened her mouth to speak, but more rumbling caught her attention, and the three of them looked to one another.

"Aftershocks?" rasped April, her chest on fire.

Yoshi and Saki looked further up the mountain, and Saki paled instantly.

"Not aftershocks," he said, snatching April's arm. "Landslide. Go – GO!" April had only a moment to behold the rushing of dirt, debris and mountanside pieces that rolled down the far-up hill away from them, unlodged by the earthquake and traveling with the speed of a raging tsunami.

With a shout, April turned with Saki and Yoshi and they each raced off down the mountainside, with the ground jumping beneath their feet once more from the weight of the landslide following them down their ascent, rolling into trees and rocks, becoming larger and larger. Smaller trees snapped instantly under its weight and joined the rubble, and as they ran, one tree broke in half and tumbled down after them, bouncing high and over their heads as they each ducked in turn.

April felt it right at their heels, ready to overtake them, and it was everything she could do not to give up, to stumble and fall, to cry out and scream.

"SAKI, THE TRUCK!" Yoshi shouted, pointing up ahead where Saki's truck had been left behind that morning. "I've got April! Go!" Saki nodded and put on an extra burst of speed, reaching the truck first and firing straight into the cab, where he turned on the ignition. Yoshi then reached behind him and grabbed April's arms, much to her alarm, and then tossed her with all of her strength so that she was flying through the air. She landed in the back of the truck with a painful thud, far ahead of Yoshi, just as Saki sped off. Yoshi ran as hard as he could and caught up with the back of the truck, bouncing into the back of it with April just as the landslide crept up on them, threatening as any malevolent foe.

"SAKI!" April screamed, as debris broke free of the landslide and soared over them, causing Saki to yank the truck to the right to avoid it. He dodged trees and rocks, moving off the trail but no further away from the impending landslide. "There's a village ahead!" he shouted to them through the back window of his truck, but as the village came into view, they quickly realized they would not be getting help.

Saki swung the truck to the side and stopped it right in front of the rubble that had once been a general store, destroyed by the earthquake and blocking the only road through the village. He jumped out, shouting to the villagers as they worked their way through the rubble, unaware the worst was yet to come.

"GET SOMEWHERE SAFE!" April shouted to them as they jumped out, and people rushed all around them as they saw the landslide approaching, frantically grabbing their children, to fight past the debris to somewhere safe, anywhere. But the village had already been fairly destroyed by the earthquake, and so few buildings still stood. Saki jumped over a pile of giant concrete pieces and pulled April up with him, pushing her up to the only tall roof still standing. Yoshi followed, barely making it onto the rooftop before the landslide met their area with a great booming crash.

People across the street had made it onto the rooftop of a home, but even as April, on her hands and knees, felt their entire building shift underneath them against the power of the landslide, the home across the street collapsed with the family on top. The three villagers were swallowed up in an instant by the rubble, dirt and stone, as April watched with nothing to do but sob helplessly.

The landslide swept over what was left of the village, pulling people from their precarious perches, yanking them underneath and crushing them with anything it had pulled off its path in its furious descent down the mountain.

The building beneath them shifted again, and Saki held tight to April, Yoshi at his side.

Gradually, the rush of the landslide slowed, leaving the unfamiliar village buried under earth and refuse. April's tear-stained cheeks looked out over the carnage, and she realized with a growing weight in her stomach that only their building had outlasted both the earthquake and the landslide. Down below, people's homes had turned to ruin, and others had been buried under their businesses. Anguished cries, laments, pleas for help and all the like rang out after the noise of the landslide had halted, and as April, Saki and Yoshi slowly stood on the rooftop they'd stumbled upon, they were able to look out over the area with a miserable sense of awe.

As far as the eye could see, damage unending. Villagers trying to pull out friends and family from underneath buildings. Children shouting for their parents. Far above, in the distance, helicopters sounded. April fought not to collapse, but in the end, she lost, and Saki silently gathered her in his arms.

Saki glanced over April's head at Yoshi, and their blank gazes said much, if their words said little.

Not now. Soon, but not now.

* * *

Author's Note: This based off the 1993 Hokkaido earthquake, which resulted in both a tsunami and a landslide, leaving 230 causalities. Please take a moment to remember them, as my writing does little justice to the tragedy of their loss.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: So, this chapter will NOT be the last. I decided to split these last two chapters. The next will be the final chapter.

On an unrelated note, my heart goes out to the citizens of France. I sincerely hope the best for all of you, just as I hope my country and its government will do all it can to help you. Likewise, I send all the good will to those who might be living in fear of retaliation for the violent acts of only a few.

Might need some tissues for this chapter, guys.

* * *

Emergency vehicles rolled around the broken landscape, and every time they paused, it was to help the injured and dying into their waiting care. April, Saki and Yoshi were checked over by medics, but ultimately given clearance to leave, as other injuries were far more pertinent.

The trio was silent as they drove back to their village in Saki's truck. The air was thick enough to absolve any hopes of conversation, fears far too pressing to voice.

They made it to the main center of town first, from one of the roads to the west, and April leaned forward, straining to see.

Saki cursed under his breath as the truck rolled to a stop where there had once been a sign, but now was nothing. The entire market square had been destroyed, with only one or two buildings still standing, but their village had, at the very least, been spared much of the landslide. As they rolled on, Saki wordlessly steering the truck towards Shen's house, Yoshi grew more and more tense at April's side.

Some houses stood, but others had crumbled, and the emergency assistance was coming into town as they rode by, pulling people from rubble in some places, bodies from others. The laundry shop April had worked in was now unrecognizable, and as she watched, Iida-san was looked over by a medic. She was alive, but the distraction of being as such did not keep her from sobbing as she looked over her business.

They came to the street where Shen and April lived, and Yoshi made the first noise in nearly half an hour.

The entire semi-circle of houses was destroyed, not a single one standing. Shen had been at home when April had left that morning, and now as they came to a stop, weakness filled April's limbs, tears already prickling at the corners of her eyes. No one was faster than Yoshi as he flew out of the truck, his stricken expression pouring over every layer of refuse.

"SHEN!" he called, heavy pants breaking up every shout. "SHEN!"

April jumped out behind him, and she cried out at the sight of what had once been their house. The entire yard was broken up, like pieces of a puzzle dropped from their box all at once. The garden shed Yoshi had painstakingly built for Shen was toppled over on its side and half-buried in dirt, the garden they'd made beside it completely gone.

As the trio approached what had once been the home, Yoshi called out again and again, growing more frantic as he searched. Tears blinding her, April stooped in the debris of the home and her fingers found a piece of glossy paper. When she lifted it from the rubble, she saw it was the now dirty and stained photograph from Christmas, the one which featured the four of them, happy and bundled, in front of the scenic fountain in Osaka.

"Shen!" April called out, barely able to speak as she clenched the photo tight in her hands. "SHEN!"

Saki came up behind her and tried to pull her away from the house, which was sharp under her battered feet, but April pulled away and called out again.

Yoshi cursed loudly, his hands reaching up and gripping his head as he sank into a miserable crouch. When at last he stood again, his face was streaked with tears, and the three of them stood silently for a long, dismal moment.

 _Thud. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

They turned, confused for a moment before April's eyes caught a hint of a movement. "Yoshi!" she exclaimed, pointing. "The shed! The garden shed!"

Yoshi's head snapped in that direction, and now it was clear that the sounds were coming from inside the shed. Together, he and Saki hurried to the small overturned shed and began pulling away frantically at the debris covering it. When at last it was free, they rolled it over with a great heave until the door was no longer against the ground, and as soon as they did, it burst open.

"Yoshi!" cried Shen, as she fought to get out of the shed, bruises and cuts scattered over her face but a brilliant smile there nonetheless. Yoshi snatched her out of the shed and pulled her away from it, only to curl her tightly in his arms with a strangled gasp.

"Oh, Shen..." he murmured tearfully, his face tucked deeply into her neck. "I thought you were gone..."

"I'm okay!" she comforted, stroking his head. "I'm okay – I felt the shocks, and the shed was closest! It turned over, and I could not get out. But it did not break! I am alright!"

Yoshi refused to let her go for several minutes, but April waited her turn to hug Shen, who clinged to her just as desperately as she had Yoshi. "I am so glad you are alright," she told April in a fearful whisper. "I was so scared for you..."

"We're all okay," April whispered back, her shining eyes turning up to the two brothers, who stood far apart without looking at one another. "We're all going to be alright."

* * *

They spent the rest of the day helping out whereever they could, all four of them in tandem as they had always been, though they spoke little, and Saki least of all. April could never be glad of the tragedy, but the distraction of such hard work was not unwelcome.

Still, the night came and the village settled, albeit uncomfortably, and with many in mourning. All of the Hamatos had survived the earthquake, their home being rather far off from the village and largely undamaged. The clansmen lost in the attack against the FootClan were quietly memorialized on the Hamato land, while other vigils were kept for the Japanese who had died in the disaster.

Because their home had been destroyed, April and Shen were invited to stay at the Hamato's home, and so they gathered what few things they could salvage and returned to the room in which they'd stayed before, huddled together in bed that night, sharing tears and thoughts, fears and hopes.

"Many years ago, people all over the world thought things such as this earthquake happened because the spirits were angry with us," whispered Shen to April in the dark. "We had failed them, they thought, and so they sought to punish us for it. Now, we know that these disasters have purposes in science and nature. We can study them and see why they act the way they do, and because of that, we can forgive them for bringing such destruction on us."

Shen frowned deeply and brushed a hand over one of April's many cuts from the day's battle.

"But no matter how much we study humans, their thirst for violence is never explained to us. We may never know why they create such ill will and hatred. And why they seek to destroy so much and hold dear so little."

"We'll probably never know," agreed April softly.

Shen pressed her face further into her pillow and closed her eyes, weary from the day. "Perhaps that is for the best," she sighed. "Some things are better left in the dark."

They slept.

* * *

Early the next morning, April rose and walked quietly down the hallway of the Hamato home, her bare feet cold against the wooden floors. She found Saki in the dojo, and as she watched, he stood without moving in front of the wall of weapons and scrolls, his eyes on a high shelf of various items dear to the family. Artifacts from elders past, a sword that belonged to an ancient and noble ancestor, an ornate chest the size of a shoebox, and others. All of them important to the Hamato family in some way or the other.

April stepped inside, her arms folded over her chest in a comforting squeeze, though she ached to reach out to him. Even turned to the side, the pain etched into his face was clear, and her powers felt the desperate urging of his misery.

She didn't want any more tears, so she pushed them aside, but she felt them all the same.

"Saki..." she said tenderly, and as soon as she reached him and touched his bicep, he dropped his head and closed his eyes.

"I am the son of Oroku Keiji," he murmured in disbelief, his features crumpled. "Yoshi and my – Hamato Yuuta, they kept this from me. They trained me to hate my own blood." He looked up at her then, his brows furrowed. "Why? Why would they do that?"

April moved closer and shifted in front of him, her fingers curling at his arm. "Saki, I – I don't know why Hamato Yuuta did what he did. But I don't think he meant to do you harm. He cares for you -"

"No," Saki interrupted, his voice thick. "He killed my father in his own home, and he took me to keep as a trophy, just as he does with everything else."

"Hamato Yuuta _loves_ you," she tried, but Saki refused to look at her.

He said lowly, "Lying is a poor way to love someone."

He turned away then, his movements slow and heavy, until all at once, he gripped the heavy shelf and ripped it off the wall, scattering its contents over the dojo floor with a loud clatter. "I hate him!" he shouted in grief. "I hate Hamato Yuuta and I hate Yoshi!"

April jumped away from the falling objects, her lips parted, as she looked up to Saki's angry pacing. "I will never forgive them for this! I will hate them all my life, I swear it!"

"Saki!" She gripped his arm and stopped his pacing, as if her meager strength had the great will to keep him from doing anything. He did, though, let her pause him with a hand to his chest, and when he relented for just a moment, she pulled her hand to the back of his neck to still him completely.

"Listen," she pleaded, her voice soft and tender. "I know that you want to lash out at them, and you deserve to feel angry and betrayed. But I will never be able to forgive myself if I let you give into these feelings right now, Saki. Never. Please, listen to me when I beg you not to attack Yoshi or Hamato Yuuta. Don't let this anger and bitterness towards them dictate your actions. Don't hold this against them forever."

Saki snorted and tried to pull away, but April kept him there.

"And I'm not saying this for Yoshi," she said firmly, her grip tightening. "I'm saying this for you. Because I can't lose you to this hate, Saki. I _need_ you too much." His gaze flickered at her words, and she pressed on.

"Please, I know all of this is incredibly unfair to you," she whispered, her thumb brushing over his cheek. "But I also know you can overcome it. You're always telling me how strong I am, right?" She tried for a small smile, and the reflection of it passed behind his softening eyes. "Let me be strong for you. Let me help you get past this, so that you can move on without losing the people around you who care about you."

Saki swallowed tightly, and the struggle read in every clenched muscle in his body. She could feel his rage, boiling barely beneath the surface, so ready to unleash on someone. But April was the only one there, and he kept it at bay, somehow.

He shook his head a bit, his eyes closed once more. "It is no wonder I am this man," he said at long last. "One who is constantly at war with himself. It is because I was not meant to live this life." April's fingers found his shirt and tugged him close, so their lips could brush together.

She spoke almost too softly to hear. "The man you are is the man I love."

Saki's eyes opened at that, wide and vulnerable, and April looked up to him with unwavering resolve. It was true, not something said for his benefit, and it was the only thing that gave her hope that Saki could rise out of his bitterness for the Hamato's. It had to work. It had to.

A moment passed in stillness before Saki curled April tight in his arms, and though he dwarfed her in every way, it felt very much like April was embracing a small child, for how much he trembled and curled into her warmth.

"I will try," he promised her with no small amount of reluctance, his hand brushing tenderly over her face as they parted. "I will try to keep from hating Yoshi. And perhaps, one day, I can have peace with him again. But only for you. Only because of you, for I cannot do it alone."

April offered him a watery smile. "Everything that gives you happiness will give me happiness, too. I'll be here with you," she squeezed his hand. "I promise."

Saki nodded, some hint of warmth coming back into his features. He glanced to the mess he'd made, but April waved him away. "Go get a few hours of sleep. I'll clean this up," she said, and Saki left her with one last kiss, leaving April alone in the dojo.

She stooped down, her mind turning over the recent events as she picked up the broken pieces and replaced the uninjured items on a different shelf. As she kneeled to pick up the chest, however, she paused. Its keyhole on the front caught her attention, and as she drew her fingers over it, she remembered her own key around her neck.

"It couldn't be..." she murmured to herself, and she pulled out the key. When it slipped into the lock without trouble, her heart hammered in her ribs. She turned it with a click, and the small box opened. Inside, sitting on top, was a large scroll bearing the Hamato crest.

She reached out with unsteady hands and unfurled the many pages of hand-written text.

* * *

 _May 21, 1977_

 _I write this now after my dear wife has passed, and because there are many troubling circumstances on my mind at the prospect of raising young sons on my own, I find others must be laid to rest, in order to secure room for newer concerns._

 _There is no other with whom I could share these memories, no person alive who can be trusted. And so I must write them here, on this day, to be sealed away in the chest which must be locked. Then I will take my key, as it is the only key left for such a lock, and I will melt it down so these words may never be read._

 _It is my hope that once I have done this, I may leave these memories behind. I do not know if that is possible, but on this day, I am finally willing to try._

* * *

The forest was a spectacle of green foliage and bright sunshine, and as the little boy sped through the low hanging branches and piles of forest debris, he laughed at the sun's attempt to catch him. He was alone, but he ran as if the wildest of beasts was right behind him. With no instructors to watch him or any mothers to scold him, he could only run as fast and jump as high as he desired.

When at last he stopped for breath, the little boy leaned against a tree. He'd only had a moment's rest, though, when a voice sounded behind him.

"What are you doing here?" demanded a squeaky voice, and when the boy whipped around, he found himself to face to face with yet another little boy, smaller and lankier than he was.

"I am playing," the first boy defended, folding his arms to look tough. The other little boy did not seem to fear him, and that annoyed him. "Do you own these trees? No, I did not think so. I can play where I want."

"You do not know who owns these trees," said the other little boy peevishly. "I bet you do not know anything."

"I do so. I know all my characters and numbers," the other boasted, and he received an eyeroll in response. They both paused, unsure of what to say or do, because the truth was they were both little boys, and they each knew as much or as little as could be expected.

The first little boy squinted. "Is that a slingshot?"

The other looked down at his toy, which he held in his hand. "Oh, yes. My cousin gave it to me. I can knock down anything with it." He smiled, and previous aggression forgotten, he held it up for the other to see. "Do you want to play down by the river? We can build up targets and then take turns knocking them down."

The first boy laughed. "That sounds fun! My name is Yuuta."

They turned together and headed towards the river, and the boy with the slingshot hopped alongside him joyfully.

"It is nice to meet you, Yuuta. My name is Keiji."

* * *

 _We did not know then how powerful the absence of our family names truly was. In fact, we did not even learn of one another's clans for quite some time. It was easy enough, in the beginning, to merely play with one another in the woods when we could, though we were somehow wise enough not to mention it to our fathers._

 _Home was a strict place, filled with discipline and training that, even as such young ages, grew oppressive in nature and too commanding to bring comfort or joy. It was a suffering we each understood, but never spoke of. Our time in the woods was nothing more than building forts, climbing trees and swimming in the river, all of which occupied our time in the newest and most fascinating of ways. We treasured it above everything else, so much so that even when we discovered the nature of our family's rivalries, we quickly decided that such things had nothing to do with us._

 _And even if it did, the forest was a neutral place, where kinsmen and ninjutsu did not particularly matter. If we could spend just an hour away from the firm regiment of our homelife, in each other's company and laughing, everything we endured in the village was inconsequential._

 _One day, Keiji came up with an idea._

* * *

"This is a box my uncle gave me," he told Yuuta, his knees dipped in the gathering leaves. The ornate chest was the size of a shoebox, with dark wood and a large black metal lock. "I thought we could leave it here at our spot in the forest, so if we wanted to give each other notes or leave surprises, we could put them here."

He pulled out a long iron key. "This is my key." Then, reaching in his pocket, he pulled out another, and he grinned at Yuuta's wondrous gaze. "This is the copy I had made. These are the only two keys in the entire world that will fit this box, and only you and I will have them. It will be our secret, forever. Okay?"

Yuuta nodded, delighted at the secret, and they each took their keys and kept them always on their person. "Forever," he agreed.

* * *

 _Keiji and I lived lives so parallel to one another, it was only to be expected that we understood the other so well. And so we continued, using every skill of discretion we learned from our fathers, meeting in the forest even as we left childhood behind and became teenagers._

* * *

Keiji tapped his foot impatiently, and when at last his friend came stumbling through the branches to their usual spot, he exhaled in a very pointed and annoyed manner.

"Yuuta!" he exclaimed, as his friend appeared. "There you are! What took you so long?"

But as Yuuta came into view, his gait was uneven and unseemly, even for a lanky thirteen year old fighting to grow accustomed to his rapidly growing body. "What has happened to you?" asked Keiji, his brows furrowed in concern. Yuuta winced, but he pulled away from Keiji's step.

"It is nothing," he said, even as he heavily favored one leg.

Keiji made a face. "It is not nothing, you stupid. Did you get hurt in training?" When Yuuta fell quiet, Keiji's face grew dark. "Or was it your father?"

Yuuta sighed, and after a few more fumbling steps, he sat on a log and gingerly touched his right leg, where binding under his hakama hid his injury. "It is not so bad as last time," he said, trying to sound light. "He was very drunk, and so his aim was terrible. I think it might have even been an accident this time."

Keiji did not think his friend's joke was very funny, but there was nothing he could do except sit next to him in angry silence. Yuuta frowned. "I'm sorry, Keiji. I want to come to the river with you, but I can't walk there like this. I barely made it here, but I was afraid you might get worried if I didn't come."

"You are stupid," said Keiji hotly. "You should not have walked all the way out here like that, just for me." Yuuta's lips quirked at a smile, and he shrugged.

"Well, I did. And now I am here to bore you, because I cannot play or run or do anything. I'm sorry."

Keiji paused thoughtfully, before he jumped up. "Well, I will not just let you sit here, with nothing to do, after walking out all this way to see me. So here, stand for just a moment, and I'll carry you on my back to the river. Then we can sit there in the water, and maybe fish some."

Yuuta laughed. "You cannot carry me! Your arms and legs are like twigs, you skinny insect."

"I can!" Keiji argued. "I am strong. And if you were not already injured, I'd show you again who is the better wrestler. Now shut up and stand." Yuuta smirked and did as he was told, and to his surprise, Keiji hoisted him on his back and wrapped his "twig arms" around Yuuta's knees.

"Whoa," Keiji wavered, before they laughed together and began their slow hobble down to the river.

"You really are heavy," said Keiji as they disappeared through the brush.

"It is muscles," Yuuta informed him. "Weak little twig arms do not weight as much as mine."

* * *

 _As we grew older, the reality of our situation became more and more pressing. It became harder to get away, as our responsibilities multiplied and our training escalated, but we still managed. The excitement of keeping our friendship a secret had long passed, and now our time together was a necessity which surpassed nearly everything else._

 _The only rule we kept was to never speak of our clans. We did not divulge anything about our numbers, our titles, our training. It was a subject which may never enter the forest, and though we never spoke the rule aloud, it was one we both honored ardently._

 _We came into adulthood, myself a few years older than Keiji, and we were each in turn matched by our parents with wives of our own. We spoke often of the upcoming events in our lives, the things we would do and the others we would change. Keiji was very reluctant to get married, and I was much the same, but there was little to be done about the situation. Fortunately, we had one another to commiserate with, and on the days when we weren't running around the forest like the two little boys we once were, we spent sitting underneath our favorite trees, lamenting our lack of autonomy._

 _Still, we found joy in our lives with one another, until another milestone in our years gave us new and exciting subjects to discuss. Because Keiji, despite his protests against marriage and his many disparaging comments about his wife, managed to beget a child first. He had a son, one he named Nagi, and I remember spending that entire day together in the forest, looking at his photographs as he proudly relayed every detail on the birth, and on the wondrous baby it had produced._

 _When I married and had a son as well, we turned our minds together towards the future, making fantastic plans for our children that would never come to be. We knew this, because our children had our names and therefore our predestined rivalry, but we never spoke of that, not once._

 _Instead, we teased one another about how we would treat them when they were older, how we would discipline them when their rebellious years grew into fruition, how, if we ever had daughters, we would frighten any and all young men who came their way._

 _It was one of our favorite subjects to share with one another, a light outside of the forest which we could capture and bring to our meetings. When Keiji's second son was born, I waited as anxiously as a new father myself, in a hurry to hear every word of Keiji's excited chatter, my heart so great for his joy._

* * *

"Here is his," Keiji grinned, dropping down in front of the tree, shoulder to shoulder with Yuuta as he passed him the picture. They settled next to each other comfortable, their arms brushing as they each placed them on upraised knees.

"Ah," Yuuta smiled. "He is handsome. A bit wrinkly, though. What is his name?"

"Shut up," Keiji chuckled. "He was only born three days ago. You know what those new babies are like." He tucked the picture away and leaned his back further against the tree with a tired sigh, his head lolling near Yuuta's shoulder. "And I do not know, my stupid wife is going to pick it. She does not like the name I prefer."

"And what name is that?"

Keiji smiled at nothing in particular. "Saki."

Yuuta chuckled softly and nodded. "That is a good name. It is a shame she did not like it."

Keiji rolled his eyes and shook his head. "So how is young Yoshi?"

"Ah, he is a toddler," Yuuta rolled his eyes, though he smiled still. "He runs, he bumps into things, he breaks them. Quite possibly the most rambunctious thing I have ever seen, I think. He has great energy. He will fight so well, I know it."

Keiji smiled, pleased to hear this, even as his eyes dropped. Yuuta prodded him gently in the arm. "What are you tired for? You have looked so exhausted lately." His friend made a face, and his head dropped to Yuuta's shoulder, his temple against the sleeve as he stifled a yawn.

"The baby was up crying all night last night. I do not think he is unwell, just irritable."

"Why don't you have a nursemaid to care for him?"

Keiji scowled. "My stupid whore wife fired her," he said with a huff, and at Yuuta's amused stare, he lifted his head enough to smirk and say, "She thinks I am having an affair with her."

Silence followed for a few beats before both men burst out laughing,

"She is so stupid," Keiji muttered, moving his head to Yuuta's shoulder again. "Have I mentioned that? She is a harpy." Yuuta shifted and reached up an arm around Keiji's shoulders, letting him sink further into his side. His hand brushed the other's shoulder, and his dark eyes roved Keiji's sleepy features.

"Do not complain. You are the one who picked her because she is pretty. You should have chosen someone less pretty and more kind, as I did."

"My father only gave me a choice of three, and the others were trolls," Keiji grunted without lifting his head, before he added, "I wanted good looking children. So sue me." They snickered together again, even as Yuuta lifted his hand, fingers brushing the hair on Keiji's forehead. Keiji kept his hair so long, and it was constantly in his face. Yuuta never understood how he could fight, but he did. Yuuta's fingers brushed it away from Keiji's brow.

"Sleep, if you want," he said quietly. Keiji opened his eyes and turned his head up to Yuuta's face, his cheek against the other's front.

"You came all the way out here just to watch me sleep?"

"No," said Yuuta with a smile. "But it is preferable to other alternatives. Rest." Keiji paused before resuming his position, his eyes closed, and he let Yuuta pet his hair away from his face in gentle strokes. "You should be nicer to your wife," Yuuta told him gently after a moment. "It is not her fault."

"What isn't?" asked Keiji sleepily.

Yuuta tucked some hair behind Keiji's ear. "Me," he answered.

* * *

 _Just a few days after the birth of Keiji's second son, our luck finally ran out. It was my fault, and I blame myself for it even now. A foolish, thoughtless moment on my part, to seize the chance to talk to Keiji in the middle of town. The day had been long and stressful, and when I realized he was alone in the market, I pulled him aside in an alleyway._

 _We spoke only for a moment, and for no real reason at all, when someone spotted us. It was then that Keiji pretended to attack me, and I him, and together we were pulled out to the center of town for all to see. I am still grateful a fight did not transpire there, but the result of such a public confrontation meant that our two clans could no longer linger in their uneasy coexistence._

 _The time for fighting grew nearer and more intense, and all because they had seen Keiji and I screaming in the streets like savages, blades drawn and fists raged. We knew that day how bad things had gotten, and we also knew that it was now as much our fault as our fathers._

 _And yet, we thought we could push it away, as we always had. Unfortunately, that was not the case._

* * *

"Yuuta!"

Keiji crashed through the forest, speed unhindered by anything in front of him, branches slapping at his face and legs even as he came to their meeting spot with a heavy chest. Yuuta stared at him, lips parted as he hurried forward, touching Keiji's arm in concern.

"Keiji! What is it, are you alright?"

Keiji panted heavily, but at last he gulped down enough air to speak. "Yuuta," he said weakly, his gaze more fearful than Yuuta had ever seen it. "You must leave town. You must go, you must take your family and go, now!"

"What?" Yuuta started. "Why? What has happened?"

The other pulled away, his eyes filled with shame, hesitation causing him to balk before he spoke at last. "It is my father," he said, swallowing tightly. "He came to us last night and told us there is an attack planned on your family."

"An attack?" Yuuta repeated, his eyes wide with alarm. "He would not dare do such a thing."

"He will," Keiji shook his head. "He has told us of other clans – other ninja, he has convinced to ally with us against you. They will number more than two hundred - " Here, Yuuta made a noise of despair, his body turning away from Keiji, even as the other pursued him. " - And they will attack in the dead of night. No one is to be spared, Yuuta. We are commanded to kill everyone."

"That cannot be," Yuuta argued, but at Keiji's expression, he sank his face into his hands. "I must tell my father, alert him so the others can -"

"No!" Keiji interrupted, his expression frantic. "If you alert them, if they prepare in any way at all, my father will know one of us warned you! He will not suspect my old uncle, Yuuta. He will know it is me, and if you think my father is above killing his own son, you are wrong!"

"But what else are we supposed to do?" Yuuta exclaimed.

"Leave!" pleaded Keiji. "Take just your wife and son, and escape before it is too late!"

Yuuta glared down at Keiji. "Abandon my clan, Keiji? Is that what you would do?"

Keiji let out an angry shout. "Yes! I mean – No, I mean. I do not know, Yuuta! All I know is _I do not want you to die_!" He turned away then, unwilling for Yuuta to see the way he trembled at the idea, but Yuuta softened nonetheless and came to stand behind him.

"What if we win? We could beat your father and his bought warriors."

Keiji inhaled softly, and he shook his head. "No," he said quietly, his voice heavy with despair. "They will outnumber you four to one. Even you cannot defeat such numbers." They looked to one another, and Keiji stepped forward.

"I am begging you. Please, do not die here. Not for your father, who treats you so badly and abuses you at every turn. Go and live for your son, Yuuta. I need to know that you are alive and safe." When Yuuta fell silent, Keiji reached forward with an unsteady hand, wrapping his fingers around the other's. They squeezed there, and the two stepped minutely closer, misery enveloping them.

After a long moment in which only the rustling of trees and the whistle of wind dared make noise, Keiji spoke.

"I know it is no small thing to ask you to abandon your clan, however your father treats you..." he admitted, his face turning up towards Yuuta. "and so I will not ask you to do something I am myself not willing to do." Yuuta looked to him in anticipation. "I will go with you, if you leave. We can take our sons," Keiji smiled, even as his body shook. "We can let them live those dreams we spoke of. Let our fathers fight their wars and die for their honor. We can do something different."

Yuuta dipped his head towards Keiji as the other continued. "We can teach them different things. Away from here."

"And what of our wives, hm?" asked Yuuta wryly. "What do to with them? I cannot take Yoshi away from his mother, nor can I let her die."

"Bring her," Keiji said, not without an air of annoyance. "If you must."

"And of your wife?"

Keiji pulled away a bit, his eyes sharp and narrow. "I will not bring her. Let her die."

"Keiji!" admonished Yuuta.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Yuuta?" said the other bitterly, growing more impassioned with every word. "I do not care about her! I do not love her! I care about _you!_ I lo -" he stopped there, suddenly growing silent, and the two paused together in an air of uncertainty over which boundaries yet remained between them. After a long pause, Yuuta lifted his head to speak.

"I will go," he promised, and Keiji's head jerked up in wide-eyed amazement. With seconds, he'd jumped to Yuuta and pulled him into a tight hug. They held each other like that for quite a long time, each fighting to remain close to the other. Even when they pulled apart, their faces remained close, and an unspoken agreement between them passed through their expressions.

"How will we support ourselves?" Yuuta asked, with just a hint of teasing, his voice low thanks to their intimate proximity. "We do not have many skills that warrant jobs, I am afraid."

Keiji paused thoughtfully, one hand finding Yuuta's top and brushing against the collar there, near his skin, delirium at the prospect of a new life driving him to be bold. "Oh!" his face lit up. "I told you, did I not? My father gave me the Kura Kabuto, just last year, as a special gift. It is surely worth millions of yen. I can take it, and keep it here in our box!" He looked to the side, where the well-worn chest was hidden. "We can sell it as soon as we leave, and it will more than enough to provide for us all until we figure something else out."

Yuuta smiled, unable to resist Keiji's excitement. Both arms curled at Keiji's waist, and now one moved to brush his shoulder. "Alright then. We should meet here in three days, ready to leave." Keiji nodded, and silence fell over them again as the looked over one another closely. Yuuta brought up his free hand and brushed it at Keij's temple, and though they'd never held one another this way before, it certainly felt as though they had.

How could he live without Keiji, he wondered. Surely it must be miserable. Even the thought of it made him sad.

One of them moved, though it was to anyone's guess which, and their foreheads pressed close together before their lips followed suit. It was a smooth, gentle kiss, one that broke apart after only a moment because the reality of such a frightening thing was almost too much to bear, particular with so many other unknowns haunting them.

Still, they both smiled as they parted, because it occurred to each of them in turn that _this_ feeling was the one they ought to have shared with their wives, but instead it was here, between them.

Yuuta whispered, "I will see you in three days."

* * *

 _I remember leaving that time in the forest with an elation I had never known. For the first day in my life, I could think to a future that did not involve taking the place of my father, who held it with so little grace and dignity. To escape the pressures, to evolve on my own. To share all of that with Keiji, and still have my kind wife and sweet child with me, as well as Keiji's own sons. It was a joy I had not anticipated, nor one I was prepared for._

 _And perhaps, in the end, it was too much for me. More than I was fit to understand, exceedingly more than I deserved._

 _All the better for loss._

* * *

Fire burned through the sky, making the night jump and flicker in waves of orange and red, all of which was reflected in gathering pools on the ground as blood spilled over and over again.

Yuuta rushed through the grounds, sword in hand, tripping over bodies and stopping only when forced by a Foot Clan soldier. They rushed him, waving their weapons, each batted away and stabbed through, dead, all nuisances in the way to his true goal. As Yuuta scrambled to get through the battle, where his own men fought and fell, though less often than the Foot clan, who had been startled out of sleep by the surprise attack, he called out a name.

"KEIJI!" he shouted desperately, uncaring who heard him, stopping only when he had to. "KEIJI!"

He grieved, oh how hard he grieved as he ran, trying to stay live because he had to find Keiji and get him out of here, he had to. Keiji would be in his home, because the attack had occurred, just as the Orokus had planned, in the dead of night. Now, Yuuta prayed with every fiber of his being to find him.

"KEIJI!" he shouted one more time, and then he saw him, several feet away, fighting sword to sword with a Hamato ninja. Yuuta called out just as Keiji killed the other man, and when their gazes met, a flash of fierce rage flashed over his friend's features. Keiji charged him with an angry shout, and his sword met Yuuta's with a loud, aggressive clang.

The fight ended before either struck a single blow, as Keiji fell to one knee, his hand gripping an injury from before.

"Keiji!" Yuuta cried out, dropping to his knees in front of the other. "God, Keiji, I am – I am so sorry, I only wanted – I only wanted to warn my father, and he – I had no time, I came to find you! Please, Keiji! I am so sorry!" Tears poured down his face, and they threatened to choke him when Keiji looked away from him with such vehement disgust, such that they brought an enraged flush to his cheeks even as he discolored from blood loss.

"Keiji," whimpered Yuuta, seeing the wound on his side. "Let me get you to a doctor, please -"

"No!" Keiji shouted, teeth gritted and bared. The battle went on all around them, men dying, buildings catching fire. It was the first time they'd ever spoke to one another in the presence of others, and it was hell that welcomed them. "No, you have – done enough," he manage, even as his wound doubled him over and he wobbled. Yuuta caught him, his hands instantly covered in blood from Keiji's wound.

"I'm so sorry!" Yuuta cried. "I was – I was planning to come with you! I was, I only wanted to warn him, I did not think he would plan an attack so soon! Oh, please, Keiji... Please let me get you to a doctor."

Keiji faultered, his eyes growing glassy. "I will – die before – you reach anyone," he coughed violently, but he still tried to pull away from Yuuta, unwilling to be near him, unwilling to have him touch his arm or care for his life as it spilled out all around them.

Yuuta sobbed, all pretense of rivalry forgotten between them for that moment as he put a dirty hand to Keiji's face, which was mired with blood and sweat. "I'm so sorry, Keiji... I was wrong, I should not have – I cannot – Please, I lo -"

"There he is!" a shout interrupted him, and Yuuta flinched, even as he heard three of his clansmen gather at his back, his brother chief among them. "Look, Yuuta has wounded Oroku Keiji! Finish him, Yuuta! Kill him!"

His face hidden from the others, Yuuta shook his head at Keiji. "No," he whimpered again. "No, I cannot -"

"Do it," Keiji growled, their voices low between them. "I am – I am dying anyway, Yuuta."

Yuuta dropped his hand from Keiji's face and tried blindly to find his wound. "I cannot let you do this, Keiji. I cannot let you die."

"You have already killed me!" Keiji hissed, before his strength wavered and he nearly toppled forward. Yuuta caught him at the shoulder, even as the jeers and cries for death grew louder behind him. They could not see his tears, not as Keiji lifted his head and groaned to Yuuta, struggling to speak.

"Find my sons," he told him in trembling tones, and now he cried as well, his thoughts turning to them. "Do not let them die here, Yuuta. That is - all - you can do for me now." When Yuuta hesitated, Keiji gripped his shirt. "Promise me!" At last, Yuuta nodded, and he pulled away from Keiji's crouched form. With cheers sounding behind him, he took in one long, deep breath as he watched Keiji straighten, in an effort to gain some dignity, and look directly at Yuuta's face.

"I'm sorry," Yuuta mouthed one last time, his tearful gaze hidden from his family as he pulled out his sword. With one quick thrust, he ended Keiji's blank stare, and the other fell to the ground, dead. His brother shouted gleefully behind him.

"Oroku Keiji is dead! We are nearly won!"

Yuuta did not wipe at his tears, knowing their mixed with blood and sweat. Another voice shouted behind him. "We should find Oroku Keiji's sons! Kill them, to make certain they do not rise against us!"

Yuuta turned swiftly, his face suddenly hard, his sword in hand once more. " _No one_ will lay a hand on those boys," he commanded, drawing their attention. "I will find them and end them _myself._ And if anyone dare touch them before I do, I will personally cut his throat."

The others nodded, backing away with great measure and caution, and Yuuta swept past them without another word.

* * *

 _I searched for hours through the ongoing battle, and the rubble that had once been the Oroku estate. Grief choked me, and every step felt laden with a weight I feared I would never throw off, but I continued with a single minded purpose._

 _After many hours, I began to fear I had failed Keiji in my very last promise to him, and the knowledge of that was almost too much to bear. I hated every bit of myself, every inch of skin, every muscle, every feeling. They all felt like such a waste without Keiji._

 _Just as I was about to give up, and thus give in to a despair that would have surely killed me, I heard a cry. After searching frantically, I found, next to a dead woman, a small infant wailing under the weight of her unmoving arm. When I picked up the child, swaddled in a blanket, I looked to its face. What I found there was so like Keiji that I had to look away. The pain was too great._

 _This small child was Keiji's second son._

 _Others continued to fight around me, but I saw only this small piece of Keij bundled in my arms, this promise I had every hope and desire of fulfilling. When the infant was safe, I returned to the Oroku estate to search for Keiji's elder son, Nagi. To my everlasting shame, I could not find him._

 _And so I took home only the infant, to my waiting wife and son._

* * *

"Will you do it?"

The young woman peered at her husband, features pinched with concern and confusion. "But, Yuuta... I simply do not understand. Why would you take the child of your enemy and ask me to call him my own? Why do you want to care for him?"

They each looked down to the very young infant, no more than a few weeks old, as he lay in the crib that had once belonged to Yoshi. He squealed and wiggled against his blankets, and Yuuta's wife, Chitose, reached forward with a smile and adjusted his soft head.

Yuuta watched the boy with unmoving expression.

"He is only a baby," he said at last. "The battle was not his fault. He did not deserve to die."

Chitose looked to Yuuta again, though her gentle hand remained poised on the tiny infant. "Well," she said, stroking the baby's soft cheek. "I suppose that is true."

"And so will you do it?" asked Yuuta evenly. "Will you claim him as yours?"

Chitose paused only a moment more, wordlessly drawing the blanket up around the baby with the soft, affectionate motions of a mother. "Yes," she agreed with a smile. "I will call him mine. We can go away for a few months, and when we return, we will keep him up at the house with us, and not take him into town. In a little while, he will be old enough that no one will know the difference in his age."

Yuuta nodded, unable to relax even in the midst of Chitose's agreement. Reluctantly, he reached out a hand to brush against the infant, and just the touch of soft skin made him lean closer and peer at the child with unveiled emotion.

"We cannot call him by his name," Chitose said after a moment, too polite to question her husband's strong feelings towards the infant. "We will have to think of another."

The infant reached up with a toothless yawn and gripped Yuuta's fingertip, causing him to smile, even as pain speared his heart.

"Saki," he murmured. "We can call him Saki."

* * *

 _My dear wife kept her promise, and together we claimed Saki as our own. We kept both of the boys away for some months, claiming distress after the battle, and when we returned, we replaced all the servants on the estate and invited no one for a long while. As Chitose had guessed, no one saw us often enough to wonder about Saki, and by now, no one who knows of him has ever thought to question his origin._

 _Chitose succombed to an illness just a week ago. I do miss her, but I am more fearful for my sons, who are yet only seven and five. They miss their mother, and they cry for her. I can give them no real comfort for that. I am not their mother. And I cry for her, as well. She was sanguine, thoughtful and a wonderful mother to both Yoshi and Saki. I could not have asked for more, by all rights awarded to any man in my position, though I desired more still._

 _After the battle, I searched for Keiji's key to our chest, but I could not find it. It might have been buried with him, or tossed aside from his ashes. I am not of his clan, and I never knew what became of his remains, an idea that pains me every time I think of it. And so, after I finish these words, I will seal them away in the comfort of knowing that no one will read them. I will destroy my key, and it will be done._

 _For I must move on, and raise my children on my own, with the knowledge that these years spent with Keiji can be nothing but painful to me now, just as hurtful to my heart as they were joyful to my life._

 _I wronged him, and my every day is darker for it, but it is the past, and that is not a place I can afford to revisit._

 _It is no place for anyone at all, I think._

* * *

April lowered the paper, blinded behind her tears, and as she set the long scroll aside, she looked in the chest and spotted with a gasp the Kura Kabuto. The shining helmet, aged and ominous, that was symbolic of The Shredder in every way.

"April?" Saki called from the hallway, and she hurriedly rolled up the paper and wiped away her tears.

"One minute!" she shouted back, and she pushed both the helmet and the scrolls back into the chest, which she closed and locked with her key. Then she replaced the chest on the shelf, tucked her key back into her shirt and took in a steadying breath.

"Are you alright?" asked Saki as he met her in the corridor. "You were in there for a long time."

She forced a smile and took his hand, her fingers tight in his. "Just got distracted," she said, tugging him away from the dojo. "Let's get some breakfast." Saki eyed her for a moment before nodding, and they left together for the kitchen, with April taking one last glance at the Hamato dojo.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Thanks for sticking with me, guys! Here's the finale...

Ending Theme: "The One that Got Away" by The Civil Wars.

* * *

The next few days went on much as they had before, with the daylight hours spent cleaning and rebuilding as much as possible. Saki maintained the relative peace he'd promised April, and before a week had passed, April was satisfied he would keep to his word. She even got a smile or two out of him before long, and despite the tension still eclipsing many of his interactions with Yoshi, he did not speak a combative word.

April and Shen kept to their room at the Hamato residence, but one night, April braved the dark corridors and stealed away into Saki's room. Pausing briefly at the door to watch him sleep in his bed, she let herself breathe a soft sigh of relief. It was easy to think about the future when she looked at him this way, simple to imagine what life with him could be like.

She slipped into his bed, knowing she'd wake him no matter how hard she tried for stealth. Of course, his eyes opened before she'd even dipped into the mattress, and he wasted no time catching her around her middle and tugging her into bed. Stifling a giggle, April tucked into the covers next to him and tenderly traced a fingertip along his collarbone.

"What do you want in your life, April?" he asked her in a whisper. "When we are done rebuilding this village, where do you want to be?"

She looked to him. "I don't know," she admitted truthfully, her voice soft. Thinking that far ahead when she'd come here seemed like such a waste of time. But now... Who was to say she couldn't think that way? "Honestly, I'd... like to finish school, I think. Go to a university, like Shen. But I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I told you," she prodded him in the chest. "I'm not from here. I don't have anything."

"You have me," he said, his dark eyes serious. "And if you want to go to school, you can. I will help you." April's lips quirked at a smile.

"I don't even exist here, Saki. How can you help me, hm?"

"My family has its ways," he whispered wryly. "It is called money and power, and although they might not look it here, in this small town, we have both. And even if they did not..." he brushed his fingers over hers and pulled them to his lips, kissing the knuckles. "I would work a job digging ditches if I had to." April's smile grew and she drew herself closer, tucking her face into his neck as he continued on in his low, deep murmur.

"We can leave here if you like," his lips brushed her temple, a pleasing shiver running down her spine. "We can go back to New York together. You can rejoin your friends and your family. You can go to school or not. You can work or you can not. I do not care."

April lifted her eyes to his and saw that he was serious. Though, really. She should have known.

"I only want to be by your side," he told her.

April looked over the bits and pieces of his features visible in the shadowed room. "That's a big commitment," she pointed out, her voice small with awe.

Saki raised a brow at her. "I do not nothing by halves."

Together, they each smiled and their bodies eased close once more. "So I've noticed," April murmured, before she tilted her head up to his. "I think all of that sounds like a great idea."

"Really?" he asked, a true smile finding its way onto his serious features. It was the most brilliant expression she'd seen on his face since the battle at the temple, and when April nodded with a giggle, he kissed her forehead delightedly.

"Good night," he pressed another kiss to her lips, and though each of them were sorely tempted to take it further, they knew better. So they curled into one another and slept peacefully into the morning.

* * *

"See?" said Shen the next morning, as the sun shone down on the first newly erected building in the town market. She smiled over at April, her hands on her hips. "Things have a way of coming back around. The world, it can be hurt, just like people."

One of the other villagers adjusted the store front sign, before stepping away with a satisfied nod.

Shen continued, "But it can be healed, too."

The two friends closed hands and happily walked away.

* * *

She paused one day with Yoshi, who stood on the front porch of the Hamato's home, uncharacteristically quiet and still. When he looked to her, it was with a small smile of understanding.

"Thank you for being here, my friend," he told her, his mind somewhere else, but his eyes trained on her. April touched his arm gently.

"You've always been there for me, Yoshi. Ever since the first day I met you."

He turned to face her, his brows furrowed, but even behind the confusion there was something else. "Do you know something I do not?" he asked lightly.

April laughed and ducked her head, one hand sweeping back her hair from her face. "No, and I don't think I ever will," she said. "Just be patient with Saki, Yoshi. He'll come back to you. He loves you."

Yoshi nodded reluctantly. "And I love him. Even when he raised his blade to me." He turned, leaning against the railings, and continued to no one in particular, "I think I loved him more in that moment than I ever have in my life. Because I knew, then, what it felt like to be without him."

"He can do this," said April confidently. "I know he can."

Yoshi looked over his shoulder at her, and though he smiled, something about it did not reach his eyes.

* * *

April spent the next few days thinking through her possibilities. If Saki would really return to New York with her, what would that mean? What could she do? She should stay in Japan. That would be safest. She didn't need to risk messing something up in New York, or possible run across her real parents.

Still, despite her anxieties, she traveled back from the town market with a light, airy feeling in her heart that hadn't been there in a long time. Saki really was willing to do all of this for her. He loved her, so much so that he was willing to set aside his anger at Yoshi and Hamato Yuuta.

For her.

It was a vain thought to entertain with such glee, but April couldn't help it. It made her delirious with happiness. She very much skipped away from the market, one bag in each hand with some vegetables she and Shen were going to use to make dinner tonight. The Hamatos were always willing to feed them, of course, but they liked to cook for themselves, too. Tomorrow, they were going into Osaka, to meet with one of Shen's relatives who had offered to help rebuild the house for them.

April cut off from the market and detoured near the edge of the forest. She hadn't had much of a reason to go out this way since living at the Hamato's, and now she enjoyed stepping through the crisp air and trees. The afternoon overhead was growing late, and shifting from a bright blue sky to one of dusky orange. She enjoyed the way it speckled the ground with rays of light, and how certain areas permeated with warmth while others were cool and windy.

Stepping along the path she'd wandered before, April walked for almost ten minutes in dreamy wonder. When she stopped and realized how far she'd gone, she turned back to the market. However, a strange sense drew her attention, and she paused. Her eyes ticked over the quiet trees and the rustling leaves. She couldn't hear anything odd, but she had the sense she was being watched.

Shifting her bags in hand, she moved more quickly along the path, but the feeling only grew. Someone was definitely following her.

Pushing forward, she secretly cursed herself for going so far alone. Now she could hear someone behind her, and they were going to catch her before she reached town again. Instead of running further, April whirled around very suddenly.

"Who's there?" she exclaimed, and for a moment, she saw no one. And then she did.

Her bags slipped out of her hands and to the ground, and a few stray vegetables tumbled out.

"... Renet?"

* * *

A heart-shaped face with an apologetic smile looked down on April from where she hovered. Then she dropped to the ground with a little squeak, and despite April's horrified face, she managed a cheerful wave.

"Hi there."

"What... What are you doing here?" asked April, her arms dropping slowly to her side. Renet looked exactly the same as when she'd dropped April off here over a year and a half ago, not a hair different. Her overly large eyes still reminded April of a quirky doe, especially here in the forest.

"Uh – Well, you know. Surprise! I'm... here to take you home."

April stayed in her spot, unwilling to move any closer.

"How can I possibly go back with you?" she asked, and her voice grew increasingly heated as she continued, fear springing in her chest. "Don't you see? You've left me here for over a year, Renet! I've – I've met Yoshi, I've met Shen and Saki. I've done so much here!"

When Renet spotted her reluctance, she dipped her head and moved forward. "I know," she said gently. "I've been watching." She sighed, twisting her hands in front of her strange suit. "And now it's time for you to go. Because you've done what you were supposed to do here, April. You did what I left you to do."

April's brows furrowed. "What the hell are you talking about?" Her body felt like liquid panic. "Renet, you left me here, and I – I changed things. I can't just leave."

"You can," Renet pressed. "I know, because you've done this before. That's why I was so confused when I saw you with the turtles. Because I knew you to be a part of THIS timeline, not just theirs. Because in the timeline you and I both know, you were always here, and Hamato Yoshi was always Master Splinter, and Oroku Saki was always The Shredder."

"That is _impossible,"_ April seethed. "Because in that timeline, Saki loved Tang Shen. But he doesn't love her! He loves -"

"You," Renet said with a nod. "I know. He loved you more than anything else in the world, so much so that he was willing to give up his feud with Hamato Yoshi... so long as you are with him." April's body tensed at the careful way Renet's last words made the other wince, and horror crept into her heart, though she fought to keep it at bay.

"But Saki cannot give up his feud with Hamato Yoshi. He has to attack him. Yoshi has to become Splinter. And Splinter has to take care of four baby turtles." Renet reached for April, but the other girl pulled away sharply, hot tears pushing at the corners of her eyes, so Renet went on.

"All of those things have to happen for the turtles to exist, and the turtles _do_ have to exist, April."

"But how could that happen here?" asked April, her shining eyes on the ground, her fists clenched.

"Because you leave," Renet told her with a frown. "You disappear, and Oroku Saki loses the most important thing in his life. The one thing that is keeping him from flying into a rage at this very moment. And then, after some time, he turns his anger to Yoshi again. And a few years after that, to the most important thing in _Yoshi's_ life."

April whispered dully, "Shen."

"Yes," Renet nodded, her features pinched with sympathy. "He comes to covet what Yoshi has. And because he doesn't have you, all of that rage, jealous and possessiveness goes to Shen. She was the closest thing to you, and the only thing Yoshi might have cared about more than his clan. Don't you see?" Renet tilted her head at April. "You had to be here for all of this to happen. For Saki to love someone. For him to find out about his heritage. For his grief and anger to boil over when you're gone."

Renet stepped forward again. "But eventually, Saki will forget all about you. The only thing he will know is his hatred for Yoshi and his obsession with Tang Shen."

"And what if I don't do what you want?" April asked, rage filling her suddenly. "What if I just said -" she waved an arm violently," - _fuck_ you and your stupid plans! Huh?" Tears poured down her face. "What if I stay here with Saki?"

Renet sighed, both hands grasping her staff as she leaned on her, her lips quirked. "Then you would be happy... for a little while." She met April's gaze. "And then, when the Kraang came – and they always do, April, in every dimension – there will be no turtle warriors to stop them. And they will kill or enslave everyone on this planet. Including you."

April whimpered, the sound guttural and unfamiliar to her. "How could this be true? I mean – Shredder knows me in my time."

"How could he think you were the same person?" asked Renet. "It's been almost twenty years for him. And besides..." she sighed softly. "People remember what they want to remember. It's one of our only tools in dealing with things that cause us pain."

"Pain," repeated April in a choked whisper, her eyes low. And then, with a sudden yell, she pointed at Renet with a flash of her eyes, ire bursting from her chest.

"So you're telling me I've spent all of this time here – felt like I was _really_ making a difference - just for everyone to _die and suffer anyway?_ " she shouted, her hands reaching up to grip her hair. "I have to let Shen – get murdered _-"_ she sobbed. "I have to watch Yoshi suffer – and I have to – to let Saki become – _that thing!"_

April slammed her fist against a tree. "God damn it, Renet! I can't do this! I can't – I can't do it!"

Renet set her staff aside and approached April cautiously. This time when she reached out, April flinched but did not move away. "You already have," whispered Renet with a sad smile. "And you are much more powerful than you know."

"Powerful?" April managed between clenched teeth, as she lifted her head to look at Renet. "You're telling me the Shredder does all of those terrible things – kills all of those innocent people – because of _me_ and I'm supposed to feel _powerful?"_

She snapped out her arm and shoved Renet away as hard as she could. "Just let me die here! It would be the same for Saki. It would keep the timeline. Just let me go."

"No!" Renet exclaimed, her features sharpening. "The turtles still need you, April!"

"Well, I'm sick of people needing me! I'm sick of being used for others! I can't do this, Renet. I can't fight anymore, I'm tired of it." April sank to the forest floor, her tear-stained face against her dirty knees.

After a few seconds of silence, Renet moved forward and dropped to one knee next to her.

"I know you're tired," her voice floated into April's consciousness, and she suddenly sounded quite a bit older than she had before. "It's not easy being the person who saves others. It's a thankless job, and it's a lot of work. Most of the time," she sat down with a quiet huff. "People don't even realize you've done anything at all."

She beckoned around her, at the fading orange that eclipsed the forest.

"But that's kind of the point, isn't it? I'm not saying the world deserves this kind of sacrifice from you, April. It probably doesn't. But the world does _need_ it. And sometimes our needs aren't fair or logical." She curled her fingers around April's. "Sometimes, what we've gotta do to survive is just about the most unfair thing there is."

April looked to Renet, though she remained silent for a long time. Then she pulled away and stood, her trembling hands picking up the vegetables, which she repacked with meticulous care. Then she took them both of her wrists and looked to Renet, her cheeks still wet but her tears at bay.

"I want to say good-bye to them," she said with a swallow.

Renet nodded slowly. "Okay. I can set my time to get back here at midnight tonight. We can leave then." She paused, reaching out to April and then reconsidering. April watched her unblinkingly, and Renet curtly nodded once more. "Okay. Midnight. Be ready."

The square of light opened up above her head, and she disappeared.

* * *

When she came to the house, April spotted a figure on the bridge to the west of the main home. It was a small wooden structure, set over the river that twisted narrowly throughout the grounds, growing larger and faster as it went deeper into the forest.

Night had set, but the moon was full, and by the light of it, she could see Hamato Yuuta standing there, his aged hands poised on the railing. He did not seem to be looking at anything in particular.

As April watched, Saki stepped on to the bridge, only a sliver of his face visible as he approached Yuuta and silently placed a hand on his shoulder. April stood far enough away that she was not spotted, and she gazed on in wonder for a few moments before movement in the house grabbed her attention. She turned and saw, through the window, where Yoshi and Saki were sitting down to dinner.

Confused, she looked back to where Hamato Yuuta stood on the bridge, and it was then that she noticed this young man had longer hair than Saki. He was also smaller and slighter in frame, and his posture was different. When the young man next to Yuuta turned to look at her, he met her gaze directly, as if he had sensed her the entire time.

Hamato Yuuta glanced up, though his eyes were hazy and he did not follow the movement. He saw April, and he nodded to her in greeting. Then he looked back to the night sky, unmoving as the young man crossed by him, off the bridge and down the path, where he walked directly past April with only a passing glance in her direction.

She whirled in her spot to see where he had gone, but there was no one there.

* * *

That night, April wore no sign of her distress. She wiped at her eyes, cleaned off her dirty clothes, dabbed away any spots of blood from her hands, and slowed her pounding heart. She cooked, ate, laughed and joked with Shen. She looked her in the face and drank in her presence, all the while staving off the dull ache that pushed in every cavity of her body, threatening to burst from the pores of her skin at every turn.

They crawled into bed side by side around ten, as they often did, whispering side by side even though they'd been talking all day. "Are you alright?" asked Shen, too intuitive. April nodded firmly.

"I'm great."

"If you and Saki go to New York," Shen smiled deviously. "May I come visit?"

April clasped Shen's hand and squeezed tenderly. "Any time," she whispered.

Once Shen had fallen asleep, April slipped out of the bed, resolve pressing her forward even as her mind and body screamed at her for mercy, to allow it this life, please. Instead, April found a piece of paper and wrote with a trembling hand.

 _Shen -_

 _My friend came back. I'll miss you always._

 _\- April_

She left the note next to the bed, and with one last glance at Shen's sleeping form, she closed the sliding door and moved quietly down the hallway to Saki's room.

* * *

He'd worked hard that day, April thought as she slipped into bed with him, and even though he stirred, he was really only half-awake. It was rare to catch him in such a state of unawareness, and she didn't know whether she was lucky or cursed.

He curled her in his arms and sleepily secured her in the covers. Only when he felt her tears wet against her pillow did he stir and open his bleary eyes. "Mm," he pressed a large hand gently to her face. "What is the matter?"

April tried to answer, but if she opened her mouth to speak, she wasn't sure she could control herself. Grief made one want to say or do anything to make it stop.

Saki blinked rapidly in an effort to stay awake, and April almost smiled through her tears at his attempt. "Are you missing your home again?" he asked, curling his head close to hers and brushing over her tears. "Is that why you are sad?"

April reached up and grasped his hand. "Yes," she answered simply.

"You can go back soon," he promised her, his eyes closing again against his will. "Whenever you want... I will... take you there..." He pressed his face further into the pillow, blind to April's silent despair. "In New York... together."

"Yes," said April again. "In New York, together." Seconds later, he was fully asleep again, and she kissed his forehead. "But you won't be the same, Saki. And neither will I."

She watched him sleep for as long as she dared, wanting nothing more in the world than to fade off next to him, wake up in his arms, plan their future together. But the future for them was already decided.

" _We thought were controlling the flow of time," said Donatello. "But in the end, we were just a ripple. And the current kept going."_

When she was sure he was asleep, April rose from the bed as she had done with Tang Shen and moved in a dreamlike state to the dojo. There, she pulled down the chest containing the scrolls and the Kura Kabuto. After opening it with her key, she removed the scrolls and held them in her hands. Then she took them to the nearest fireplace and tossed them in, letting the paper burn away, along with the story they told. Saki didn't need to know that to become The Shredder. To know that he wasn't taken out of anger or spite, but because of two people who loved each other very much.

Turning back to the chest, she pulled something out of her pocket she'd taken from Shen's room – the polaroid photo of the four of them on Christmas. On the back, she wrote simply _I love you,_ without a signature. Then she placed it in the chest next to Kura Kabuto, closed the chest and locked it with her key.

She left both the box and the key on the table next to Saki's bed for him to find.

* * *

Once she had done this, she hurried out of Saki's room before her resolve could weaken. As she moved down the hall, she bumped into someone.

"April?" asked Yoshi sleepily, rubbing at his face. "What are you doing?"

She stared up at him, and suddenly felt the urge to laugh. She did, but it hurt her chest, like a bad hiccup, and it took a moment to steady her breathing before she became hysterical. "Don't worry about it, Yoshi. I'll see you very soon."

He stared her, brows furrowed, but April only sidestepped him and moved down the hallway. She raced out of the house and into the forest, with only the moonlight to guide her. But it wouldn't matter. None of it mattered.

* * *

Renet was there, as promised, staff in hand. April stood rigidly in front of her, fighting the urge to at least look over her shoulder, as if such a simple glance could satisfy the desire threatening to gain control of her at this very moment.

"Are you ready?" asked Renet tentatively.

April swallowed tightly. "Could I have done it?" Renet looked to her curiously, and April turned to face her. "Could I kept Saki from becoming the Shredder? Could I have made him a good man?"

Renet lowered her large eyes, before they flickered back to April's steely face. "Do you really want to know the answer to that?"

April finally looked back in the direction of the house, but she couldn't see anything. Not anymore.

"No," she said at last. The portal opened above them.

* * *

Instead of simply taking her to the future, the blinding light enveloped them and everything around April shattered and reassembled right in front of her eyes. The sudden change of scenery jarred her, and it took her a moment to realize Renet was right beside her as everything flashed and swirled around them.

Suddenly, she saw Saki in front of her, as if he were taking part in a play going on all around her. He did not see her or hear her, but she was in his room and everything was edged in haze. The scenery was too bright to be real and too faded in the corners to go any further than what she could see right in front of her, but she couldn't have looked away if she tried, as she watched him discover her note and search for her in vain. Then he pulled out the shining helmet and held it in his hands.

April's body seized with grief as she watched Saki fly into a despairing rage, and the scene faded just as Shen and Yoshi came into the room to calm him. But there was nothing to be done. The image faded away.

* * *

The world around April pieced itself together once more, but this time it was the village and the seasons had changed. Now, she saw Saki in the center of town, his expression dark as he watched Yoshi, and Shen nearby talking to him. Yoshi and Shen laughed together in one another's arms, and Saki absorbed it all from where he stood in the shadows.

The images disappeared in a mist.

* * *

One scene faded into another. Yoshi and Shen arguing, with Yoshi waving an arm in the direction of his family's home while Shen stubbornly folded her arms. They parted badly, and the next thing April saw was Saki talking to Shen, quiet and understanding. She couldn't make out their words, but there was no mistaking his intent as Saki touched Shen's arm and ducked his head gently to speak with her, tenderness in his every motion, the same he had used with April.

When Saki and Shen kissed, April had to turn her head away, and she feared she wouldn't be able to remain standing during the rest.

Yoshi was watching nearby.

* * *

April watched as Shen and Yoshi reconciled. Shen and Saki still spoke, and sometimes she would let him embrace her, but in the end, she was always with Yoshi.

* * *

Shen and Yoshi spent a night together, and a few months later, Shen discovered she was pregnant. April watched as she fell to her knees and cried, and Yoshi stood by, guilt causing him to turn away from Shen as he realized he had done what he had never wanted to do. He had trapped her.

* * *

The baby was born, and they named her Miwa. She was a happy infant, and so too were the parents, for a time. Saki did not see the baby until it was a few months old, but when he did, he held her for a very long time, simply gazing at her face.

* * *

The tension escalated. The fighting grew. And without April at his side, Saki grew more and more belligerent with each passing day. Without her soothing attention, without her loving reassurance, his insecurity and bitterness mounted.

Shen's desire to leave the village battled with her feelings for Yoshi, and Saki was there to remind her of his willingness to leave. Of his desire to care for her child. Of his devotion.

* * *

April sobbed as she watched Shen rush into the burning building where Yoshi and Saki fought to the death, and then Saki pulled out his blades and cut her dearest friend across the chest and neck, the fit of fury leaving her dead at his feet. He grieved, and so did Yoshi, and all the while April could do nothing more in her transparent state than sink to her knees as she watched Tang Shen die in front of her, seemingly just a hands length away.

The sound of Yoshi's screams were almost as difficult to hear as her own.

* * *

"Please," cried April to Renet. "Make it stop."

"It gets better," soothed Renet tearfully. "I promise."

* * *

It didn't get better. Not for April. Not even when Yoshi left Japan and found the turtles. Not when she watched the turtles grow and train and learn to love. Because all she could see was a scarred Saki, staggering from the burning building with the blood of someone they both loved on his hands, forever changed.

A crying baby in his arms.

"It's almost over," Renet told her quietly.

* * *

"Don't TAKE her!" shrieked Donatello.

" _Take me?"_ squealed April, as a strange vortex began to pull at the edges of her body. "What the -"

"Sorry guys!" Renet called out. The flash of light engulfed them both and they were gone.

Donnie stared at the empty space where April and Renet had been, before suddenly rounding on Mikey. "Great, Mikey! Way to go, your stupid girlfriend kidnapped April!"

"Hey," Mikey prodded Donnie's shoulder. "She does what she wants, okay? I'm not her keeper, bro."

"Just great," Raphael huffed. "Now what're we supposed to -"

 _Whoosh._

 _Fwish._

 _Thud._

Renet and April reappeared in a flash of light, and the turtles immediately fell silent. Even when April lifted her head, lips parted and her face flush with tears, they could only stare. Slowly, April took in everything around her.

The lair. The turtles. She looked up and spotted Raphael's punching bag, Leo's Space Heroes game. The turtles looked her up and down, and it was Mikey who stepped forward first.

"Whoa... April, what happened to you?"

"Yeah, your... hair is longer," said Donnie, brow bridges raised. "And your clothes are different."

April looked slowly to Renet, who suddenly jumped high in the air with a triumphant yelp. "Yes! We did it, April! Everything is exactly like it should be! We did it, we totally -" She looked then to April's stricken face, and her own fell as she recoiled in her excitement. Instead of answering any of the turtles' questions, April straightened slowly, her entire body shaking.

"Where is he?"

Renet frowned slowly, before answering. "You know where he is," she said quietly.

A sharp cry fought its way into April's throat but she stifled it, instead looking to the dojo door of the lair. Without a word to the turtles, she moved past them and up the steps, suddenly frantic. She threw open the door and saw, sitting in front of her, Master Splinter in a meditative pose.

He opened his eyes when she entered, and though a moment of confusion passed over his rat face, comprehension was next there. He took in her clothes, her expression, and as he stood, April crossed the room and threw herself into his arms with a sob.

"Oh, my friend..." he said quietly, reaching up a clawed hand to her hair.

"Did you know all this time?" April choked out through her tears. "Did you know me?"

Master Splinter sighed, and the expansion of his chest brought warmth to April's chilled body. "When I met you first, I did not think it was possible." April remembered Renet's words – _How could he think you were the same person?_

"But," Master Splinter continued. "When your powers began to emerge, and with the arrival of Renet... I knew you must be one and the same. But I could not say anything to you. It was not time."

She turned her face into his robe and inhaled sharply in an effort to gain control of her body, but the images were too fresh, to hard for her to wrap her mind around. Her body refused.

"I'm so sorry," she cried. "I'm so sorry I let that happen. That I let Tang Shen die. Oh, god... I miss her so much." His arms tightened around her at that, and the words spilled out of her mouth. "I miss her, Yoshi. And I – I miss him. God, I miss him so _much_."

He did not speak for a long time, his face over her head and looking behind her, in the direction of his shelf. "As do I, my friend. As do I."

* * *

"Master Splinter?" asked Donnie with a frown. "Will... April be alright?"

"Yes, my son," the old rat touched the turtle's shoulder. "She is stronger than you know."

* * *

Alone in her room, April opened a box with a lock. Inside, she placed a black and red tessen, which she sealed away with a final click. Because some things were better left locked away, she realized.

The past was no place for anyone to linger.

* * *

Another battle in the great war. Leonardo stood front and center, blades drawn. At the head of the macabre church, his back to them, the leader of the Foot clan waited.

"This is it, Shredder," growled Leonardo. "Your madness ends _tonight."_

Mikey glanced at April at the corner of his eye, weapons tight in his hands. "April?" he whispered. "You good?"

The others looked to April, but she was already crouched, black and white tessen in hand, eyes hard. And as soon as Oroku Saki turned, his armor glinting, Kura Kabuto firmly in place on his head, April's fan opened with a _clink._

The tears were still there, but they felt like a white hot fuel against her skin. Oroku Saki's mismatched gaze scanned the turtles and then, ultimately, came to rest on hers.

"April?" Leo questioned once more, but April only had eyes for The Shredder.

So she leaped first.

" _YAH_!"

* * *

The war didn't end that day, but when it did many years later, it was by Leonardo's hand, as it was always destined to be.

The floor was sticky with blood, but he still saw it, fallen from the Shredder's lifeless body. Stained crimson, faded with age. A polaroid photo with four smiling faces on the front, and a note on the back.

 _I love you._

* * *

Ending Theme: "The One that Got Away" by The Civil Wars.

Edit: For those of who you'd like to read a few words about the ending, check out my tumblr blog - petthekat89. Thanks for reading!


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